Spiral Dynamics

1
SpiralDynamics
2
What is Spiral Dynamics?

• Spiral Dynamics is a powerful model and
  predictive theory of human development and
  cultural evolution
• Successfully employed around the globe for
  conceiving and implementing real-world integral
  solutions to social conflicts and for catalyzing
  individual evolutionary transformation.
• Theory and Tool for change

3

• If you havent changed your mind lately, how can
  you be sure You still have one?

4
Meme Defined

• A world view
• A value system
• A level of psychological existence
• A belief structure
• An organizing principle
• A way of thinking
• A mode of living

5

• When there is a memetic shift, everything changes
• Tangible Actions, Icons, Events, Places, people
  and behavior
• Intangible Ideas, beliefs, theories, Courses,
  trends, ethics, norms and issues

6
Meme Components
Why? How? What?
Context Life Conditions Code Value Systems Ways of seeing world Display Surface manifestations
7

• Example
• Someone goes to a traditional function on a
  Sunday.
• Why?
• To get insurance contacts Orange
• For the ceremonies Purple

8

• Danger By looking at behavior to judge what
  will be the color
• Need to ask Why? Otherwise we may foolishly make
  a judgement about their meme color.
• Birds of same feather flock together is about the
  meme color, not skin color.

9
Some clarity on SD

• Memes are not types of people but forms of
  adaptive intelligences in people
• Spiral is not a pre-determined script. There is
  no ultimate outcome, everything is produced by
  dynamic interaction with life conditions
• At each level say 5 need to manage that and the
  lower systems, thats why higher levels are more
  complex
• Transcend and include. Everyone is passing
  through all stages. Cant destroy anything
• Individual will have pieces of the spiral. The
  spiral is more cultural
• Spiral is inside of us. We are not on it
• Systems gyrate in us. We are musical cords. We
  are blends of systems
• Hierarchy is not about better. But about
  different for different life conditions
• Orange is above blue because orange can include
  blue blue cant include Orange

10
Some clarity on SD

• When orange hits population goes down. When green
  meme hits people dont get married or stay
  married.
• Healthy people dont have major vacuum in earlier
  memes, lets say for example when they come to
  yellow
• Depending on life conditions we can regress to
  lower memes temporarily
• There is a hierarchy involved, but it is more
  factual than evaluative. It is about more
  complexity

11

• Your thriving depends if you can have a full
  range in your repertoire.
• Memes do not represent a hierarchy of "better,
• Each can be expressed in a positive and negative
  way
• The whole spiral with its assortment of meme
  codes is inside the person and may be called upon
  in response to the demands of their changing Life
  Conditions

12

• First Tier
• "Subsistence" valueMEMES
• Basic needs, Competing

13

• BEIGE
• Instinctive/Survivalistic MEME
• starting 100,000 years ago
• Basic theme
• Do what you must just to stay alive

14

• Uses instincts and habits just to survive
• Distinct self is barely awakened or sustained
• Food, water, warmth, sex, and safety have
  priority
• Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life

15
Examples

• Cast away movie
• The only real BEIGE that exists today in its
  pristine condition is hidden away in Indonesia
  and parts of Africa.
• Street people who are basically hunter-gatherers,
  who get what they eat where they find it.
• In the horrible conditions of extreme poverty in
  Somalia or Ethiopia, where it's a hand-to-mouth
  existence.
• Some people, when exposed to a catastrophe, may
  regress to BEIGE. Higher-order priorities
  suddenly vanish in the midst of personal tragedy,
  extreme suffering, or deprivation

16

• PURPLE
• Magical/Animistic MEME
• starting 50,000 years ago
• Basic theme
• Keep the spirits happy and the tribe's nest warm
  and safe

17

• Bonding with people
• Obeys the desires of the spirit being and
  mystical signs
• Shows allegiance to chief, elders, ancestors, and
  the clan
• Individual subsumed in group
• Preserves sacred objects, places, events, and
  memories
• Observes rites of passage, seasonal cycles, and
  tribal customs
• First evidence of human bondingthe sense of a
  kindred spirit, that "I'm someone because I
  belong to a certain clan or certain tribe."
• First sense of the metaphysical
• Hearing inner voices, the voices of spirits.
• The PURPLE meme is heavily laden with such
  so-called right brain tendencies as heightened
  intuition, emotional attachments to places and
  things, and a mystical sense of cause and effect.

18

• Sacrifice to the wishes of the elders, spirits
  and ancestors to gain safety and security for the
  tribe like group in a fighting world
• Heavy superstition, charms
• The good spirit protected me. So I need to keep
  good spirit
• We see world as a battle between good and bad
  spirits
• Purple sense of time is not watch time it is
  nature season time

19
Examples

• Examples
• Bad omen if a cat crosses the road
• Talisman
• AD going to my parents house before I go abroad
• Keeping peacocks feather in our books
• Pumpkin to ward off evil
• Black dot on cheeks of children
• Personification of nature
• Family rituals
• Magical new age beliefs
• Using reiki to ward off spirits
• in Africa, if the moon is full and the cow dies,
  the PURPLE mind connects the two events, one
  causing the other
• Rumors of downsizing in business Purple threat.
  Overemphasis on what the chiefs say (To counter
  this enhance purple bonding to people / product)
• Vibudhi Really true from purple lens
• Rites of passage (age 13/14 coming of age),
  memorable events, anniverseries

20
Examples

• Dont mess around with purple dangerous stuff
  Use It
• Indian Weddings lots of rituals purple stuff.
• Not all purple is about superstitions and
  mystical. It is also about bonding If bonding
  order is dissolved and nothing is put in place we
  have a whole society in chaos
• Royalty keeper of purple

21

• RED
• Impulsive/Egocentric MEME
• starting 10,000 years ago
• Basic theme
• Be what you are and do what you want, regardless

22

• The world is a jungle full of threats and
  predators . A jungle where the strongest and most
  cunning survive
• Breaks free from any domination or constraint to
  please self as self desires
• Stands tall, expects attention, demands respect,
  and calls the shots
• Enjoys self to the fullest right now without
  guilt or remorse To hell with others so as to
  find instant gratification and avoid shame in a
  world of dragons, pleasures and excitement
• Conquers, out-foxes, and dominates other
  aggressive characters
• Gratify impulses and senses immediately
• Fight to gain control at any cost

23

• Punishment reinforces Red. Egocentric coping
  mechanism acts tough, assertive, bold and
  action oriented
• Tends to be guiltless, believing that you should
  get everything you can get away with and that
  might makes right
• Depends only on the self trusts no one else
• Reds time frame Now
• Incentive system has to be directly connected to
  behavior
• Its all about me
• Loves big challenges to prove itself
• Live fast, Love hard, Die young

24
Examples

• Example
• Movies like Thirupatchi
• AD-10 years back when I used to drive fast
• AD-When someone cuts me on the road I overtake
• Lot of our politicians, movie stars
• Rebellious youth
• In RED, we see high crime rates, we see all kinds
  of rage and rebellion, but we may also see
  wonderful spurts of creativity, heroic acts, and
  the ability to break from tradition and chart a
  whole new pathway
• Rock and Roll
• Cant wait for savings cant put money in bank
• How to bait red Prove it to me You can do it.
  Prove your macho. Work on their impatience.
  (Instead of pushing red up the wall find positive
  ways of dealing with them. If we come down too
  hard on them we freeze them in TRAP. If we let
  them do what they are doing- a life time of ego.
  Need to do something to control. Not threatening.
  Red must respect you

25

• BLUE
• Purposeful/Authoritarian MEME
• starting 5,000 years ago
• Basic theme
• Life has meaning, direction, and purpose with
  predetermined outcomes

26

• Bonding with ideas
• In BLUE there is a search for a transcendent
  purpose, a recognition of the importance of order
  and meaning, a universe controlled by a single
  higher power
• One sacrifices self to the transcendent Cause,
  Truth, or righteous Pathway
• The Order enforces a code of conduct based on
  eternal, absolute principles
• Righteous living produces stability now and
  guarantees future reward
• Impulsivity is controlled through guilt
  everybody has their proper place
• Laws, regulations, and discipline build character
  and moral fiber
• Here for the first time is the capacity to feel
  guilt (RED feels shame, but not guilt)
• Righteousness, discipline, accountability,
  stability, perseverance, and order prevail.
• Purple is personal. Blue is more systems
  oriented. Good Vs Bad
• A negative side of blue heavy dogmatism
• Key element is finding meaning and purpose. Then
  conformity follows

27
Examples

• Institution of Family
• AD - Many of the principles of truth and value I
  am upholding
• All the isms, religions of the world
• Mysticism Purple / Blue
• 8 fold path of the Buddha
• Enlightenment - Sacrifice self for later
• Faith Organised belief (Purple is more
  primitive)
• Ancient nations. An ordered existence under the
  control of the ultimate truth
• Taliban Blue to handle Afghanisthan Red
• Education Going to college
• Mandella Blue. Other Africans Heavy Red
• Literacy onset of blue makes it possible to
  spread the truth
• Heavy nationalism

28
Examples

• Red to Blue Transition is very difficult
• Gorillas dying for a cause
• Permission of blue
• Terrorist
• Rogue police officer
• Dying for cause is typically Red to Blue

29

• The greatest obstacle to discovering the Truth is
  being convinced that you already know it.
• Each one is saying Follow me to the Truth.
• There is a blue parade each with different
  contents.
• Fundamentally Christianity, Islam, Hinduism all
  have same meme structures

30

• ORANGE
• Achievist/Strategic MEME
• starting 300 years ago
• Basic theme
• Act in your own self-interest by playing the game
  to win

31

• ORANGE is about advancement, improvement, and
  progress
• Change and advancement are inherent within the
  scheme of things
• Progresses by learning nature's secrets and
  seeking out best solutions
• Manipulates Earth's resources to create and
  spread the abundant good life
• Optimistic, risk-taking, and self-reliant people
  deserve success
• Societies prosper through strategy, technology,
  and competitiveness
• Play the game to win, cultivate optimistic, risk
  taking self reliance
• Measurement Trial and Error
• Learns how to invest time and money for payoff
• If you want upliftment to orange think
  differently.
• Build richer digital sense. Digitalization
  Commit ideas and events to numbers
• Skills training around strategy and measurement.
  Cant just say develop

32

• Quantification with high hopes
• Multiple thinking. Looking at various options
• More pragmatic way of decision making less based
  on ideologies
• Key element in orange is changeability

33
Examples

• India is going through this now
• Industrial revolution
• AD My drive to build my business
• Scientific method. From qualitative to
  quantitative measurement
• Some fascinating things happened in the European
  brain that seemed to occur for the first time in
  the 1700sthe mathematical sense, the sense of
  cadence, the linear sense that made possible
  written music, that made possible quantification
  and measurement
• Orange takes many forms not just material
  Strategic for example Mahatma Gandhi
• For a conference Gandhi did not wear the
  appropriate dress. Behavior looks red. But we
  need to ask why? Strategy. Orange
• Marketing research
• Executives in companies look at the amount of
  money one makes as a way of keeping score. They
  compare bonus. Never enough
• Vision can see something completed
• Medicine
• Cell phones

34

• GREEN
• Communitarian/Egalitarian MEME - starting 150
  years ago
• Basic theme
• Seek peace within the inner self and explore,
  with others, the caring dimensions of community

35

• Seek peace in the inner self and explore the
  caring dimensions of community
• The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma,
  and divisiveness
• Feelings, sensitivity, and caring supersede cold
  rationality
• Spreads the Earth's resources and opportunities
  equally among all
• Reaches decisions through reconciliation and
  consensus processes
• Refreshes spirituality, brings harmony, and
  enriches human development
• The focus shifts from personal achievement to
  group- and community-oriented goals and
  objectivesfor GREEN, we are all one human
  family.
• Spirituality returns as a nondenominational,
  nonsectarian "unity.
• True green has orange embedded in it. Otherwise
  it is false green

36

• Feelings are most important not truth, not
  power, not safety, not material
• Everything is relative, truth is a matter of
  context and the situation
• Explore the inner being of self and others
• Reach decisions through consensus
• Egalitarianism The guarantee of equality for
  each person to develop his/her potential
• To seek peace with the inner self and others,
  thus producing a harmony and tranquil society
• Decision takes more time they have to express
  feelings
• Rise of women

37
Examples

• AD My people value driven way of building
  People First Consultants
• Green Peace
• Human rights movements
• Multi culturalism
• Gender roles are derigidified
• Social class distinctions blurred
• Group therapy
• Never satisfied with handling inner child

38
Mean Green Meme

• Absorbs rather than contribute
• Attacks Blue and Orange
• Short step but important step to go to Yellow
• Anti competitive will hamper progress

39

• There are both positive and negative expressions
  to all the memes

40
From 1st to 2nd Tier

• Completely different thinking patterns, different
  minds emerging new quick and effective
  capability of solutions emerge
• Not driven by status Not driven by fears No
  internal restrictions
• Not the next step. But a Leap forward
• Healthy expression of all memes

41

• Second Tier
• "Being" valueMEMES

42

• YELLOW
• Integrative MEME
• starting 50 years ago
• Basic theme
• Live fully and responsibly as what you are and
  learn to become

43

• Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies,
  systems, and forms
• The magnificence of existence is valued over
  material possessions
• Flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have
  the highest priority
• Differences can be integrated into
  interdependent, natural flows
• Understands that chaos and change are natural
• Planet is a total ecosystem
• Sense the big picture and the interconnection of
  everything
• Has an enhanced vertical perspective with the
  ability to transcend and include and value what
  came before, and also to anticipate what will be
  next
• Think in flow systems

44

• Less caution. Less fear. No arrogance
• Not attached to any particular idea or movement
• Recognizes billions of people are passing through
  1st tier today. It does not erode any code. Each
  code is essential Blue in middle east 1st world
  orange People who move through these stages
  constantly.
• Yellow Interior system of judgement wisdom of
  others not always better than ones own
• Expresses self, but never at the expense of
  others or earth, so that all life (not just my
  life) may continue in the most natural fitting
  ways
• Their closets are full of meme colors. They enjoy
  experiences in each of the systems. Yellow has
  all 1st tier systems. Choices. No meme conflicts
• Shame not there. People dont like you. So? Far
  too authentic for that

45

• Accepts inevitability of natures flow
• Focuses on competencies, functionality
• Every meme has truth
• Self Interest without harm to others
• Experience fullness of living on earth
• Demands flexibility and open systems
• Does not beat itself for what it has done in the
  past
• Not affected by status
• Recognizes split world. Does not rush in to
  artificially to heal wounds
• Responds to competency and reason
• Satisfaction from doing well but anathema to
  praise. When endowed with lavish praise gets
  uncomfortable. Because it is self determined.
  Challenge of doing something keeps it alive, not
  praise
• Free from inner compulsiveness but can enjoy the
  best of life

46

• Open to learn at any time from any source
• Rely on whats necessary, natural
• Displays 2nd tier lifestyle priorities and
  preoccupations
• Complex in design and simple in execution. Energy
  is put upfront
• Existence ethic is the foundation stone for
  behavior that is rooted in knowledge and reality
• Takes what is and deals with what is Reality
  based systems
• What was right yesterday may not be tomorrow
• Deals with paradoxes
• If it is realistic and appropriate to be happy.
  Fine. If it is realistic to suffer then suffering
  is appropriate.
• Value comes from magnificence of existence. We
  are alive. We can exercise choice. Rather than
  our selfish or group interests
• In 1st tier there is conflict of memes. In 2nd
  tier if we know it is orange to green system we
  give orange to green solutions.
• Mobilizes whole community. All efforts focused
  laser beam
• Transforming forms. Changing forms not just
  changing behaviors

47

• YELLOW
• "left brain with feelings"
• TURQUOISE
• "right brain with data."

48

• TURQUOISE
• Holistic MEME
• starting 30 years ago
• Basic theme
• Experience the wholeness of existence through
  mind and spirit

49

• Work on behalf of the Life Force itself, in its
  many manifestations in life-forms on the planet
• The world is a single, dynamic organism with its
  own collective mind
• Self is both distinct and a blended part of a
  larger, compassionate whole
• Everything connects to everything else in
  ecological alignments
• Energy and information permeate the Earth's total
  environment
• Holistic, intuitive thinking and cooperative
  actions are to be expected

50
Cycles of Change

• I Me Mine We Us Ours

Turquoise
Yellow
Green
Orange
Blue
Red
Purple
Individual Focus
Collective Focus
Ratcheting towards Complexity
51

• That pendulum swing
• Creates Emergence
• Swing between Individual focus
• And
• Collective focus
• Self Expression Vs Attuning with nature

52

• I Me Mine
• Take charge, make change, move against nature,
  control the external world
• Task Explore the outside
• Locus of control Inside

53

• We, Us, Ours
• (more of sacrifice)
• Accept the inevitable, live within natures
  constraints, focus on making peace
• Task Fix the inside
• Locus of Control Outside

54
Expressive SystemsInner Directed

• Red Impulsive, To hell with others
• Orange Express self now calculatively, not to
  arouse the ire of others
• Yellow Express self Now But not at the expense
  of others

55
Sacrificial SystemsValue and Behavior influenced
by external focus Outer directed

• Purple Sacrifice self now to the wishes of
  tribe, spirits, chieftan
• Blue Sacrifice self now to obtain later Eg
  going to college to acquire a skill, degree
• Green Sacrifice self now to obtain now for self
  and others

56

• When any warm color rises we will have harmonics
  of warm color.
• For example if orange is on rise, Red will be on
  the rise.

57

• Start looking at the world with yellow lens

58

• A person can be self actualized in any level

59
Countries

• Singapore Blue / Orange
• India Orange
• Dutch Orange / Green
• Russia Blue / Orange
• Iceland Purple / Orange

60

• Pre Modern Purple, Red, Some blue
• Modern Blue, Orange
• Post Modern Green
• Yellow beyond post modern
• Yellow and Turquoise Celebrate pre modern,
  modern and post modern

61
Practical Applications

• See spectrum of people as supposed to stero
  types. Not treating everybody in the same way
• When problem solving, we need to decide where to
  address, Which level?
• When we change behaviors and then put them back
  into the same systems and structures, does not
  work
• How to motivate people? Wrong question. I need to
  know what kinds of people. What kinds of
  thinking. Otherwise we assume a commonality or a
  unified nature of group which may not be the
  case. We need to get into the habit of being
  specific. How would you express it to Purple,
  Blue, Green etc

62
Practical Applications

• Company may be yellow thinking, however some
  departments may require a different meme person
  who is the best. Eg marketing Orange
• Place yourself in different environments to
  activate various memes from time to time Then
  there is much more natural move to 2nd tier.
• To gym various memes can do it in many ways
  music, movies etc
• Corporate Compensation depends on what kind of
  people are there Red Pay Cash. Blue Can delay
  retirement programs

63
Bring Into your lives

• Noble Purpose Blue
• Responsible Profit Orange
• Sensitivity to People Green
• Respect for ecology and planet (not from survival
  mode but from Authentic care mode)- Yellow