Spiral Dynamics organizes each "type" of person in an easy to understand system. I love looking at all kinds of schools of understanding and looking at broader perspectives. This is one that is not as publicly known as many others, so I wanted to share it with you. I have not done extensive research in this approach (I enjoy several different ones). I am just sharing what I've found so far, as I find it fascinating, and in the process learn more of the details...
Spiral Dynamics is a framework or method of organization to help see the patterns held within it. It is an integral approach of thinking about the complexities of human existence by bringing some order and predictability to the apparent chaos of human affairs.
It shows how people think about things, not what they think about. It represents the emerging flow of human thinking and value systems that continuously change in the process of life.
With this perspective, it is easier to clearly see that we are all different, and not meant to be the same. Each level has a healthy and unhealthy expression - at their level. Each has an important role in life and all are needed. The true work we have to do is to move everyone to their healthy expression in their role. It is not to change anyone out of their roles, but to heal them where they are at. The spiral shows how waves of consciousness emerge and flow through individuals and groups.
Each level represents a system of core values or collective intelligences, applicable to both individuals and entire cultures. They detail human development and growth in adaptation to challenges. Each new level includes and transcends all previous ones. No level is inherently better or worse than another. They do become more expansive since each builds on all that came before it. People are not locked into one single level. Several can coexist, though one is usually dominant.
Here's a brief description of each level.
It's fun to look at. Read through the keywords and see which trigger you. Feel out which one you belong in.
Key Terms: Life Conditions of Each Level, What Each Seeks in Life, and How They Approach It
1. Beige - (began in 100,000 BC)
Physical senses, instincts, and needs dictate the state of being.
Focus is survival, reproduction, satisfaction of instinctive urges and needs.
Automatic existence; directed by reflexes.
2. Purple - (began in 50,000 BC)
Mysterious powers must be appeased; sacrifice made for elders and customs.
Focus is spirit realm, honoring of ancestors, protection from harm, and family bonds.
Tribal; rituals; traditions.
3. Red - (began in 7,000 BC)
Egocentric domination and impulsive self expression in which the strong prevail and the weak serve.
Focus is power and action, assertion of self for domination of others, control, and sensory pleasure.
Egocentric; exploitive; conquest.
4. Blue - (began in 3,000 BC)
Control by a Higher Power that rewards righteous living and absolutistic-obedience and punishes evil.
Focus is stability and order, obedience to earn a later reward, meaning, purpose, and certainty.
Conforming; obedient; directed by rules.
5. Orange - (began in 1,000 AD)
Utilization of abundant resources to maximize opportunities and development through calculated strategy, thus achieving highest goals.
Focus is opportunity and success, competing to achieve results, influence, and autonomy.
Test options; maneuver; striving forward.
6. Green - (began in 1850 AD)
Humanity can find love through affiliation and sharing, even if self interest sacrifice required.
Focus is harmony and love, joining together for mutual growth, consciousness, and belonging.
Fluid; affiliative; situational.
7. Yellow - (began in 1950 AD)
An integrative system where change is normal and uncertainty is an acceptable state of being.
Focus is independence and self worth while avoiding harm to others to benefit all, fitting a living system, knowing, and forming good questions.
Functional; integrative; interdependent.
8. Turquoise - (began in 1970 AD)
A delicately balanced holistic system of interlocking forces.
Focus is global community and life force, survival of life on Earth, and adapting to realities.
Collective consciousness; collaborative; interconnected.
9. Coral -
(A newer level. Too soon to say. Not much is known that I've found...)
Warm colors exhibit a focus on the external world and mastering it.
Cool colors focus on the inner world and coming to peace within it.
As individuals, most of us are mixtures of both as the spiral winds between the individual "I" and the collective "we".
This is not to be seen as a way of complete categorization. The levels and the transition states between them are the visible signs of much deeper forces at work. These energies arise from the interaction of life conditions and brain/mind capacities available to cope with such conditions.
With this tool of understanding and perspective, we can best manage our resources. It is easier to get the right person into the right job with the right materials at the right time and within the right systems and structures. We each have a place where we can be best utilized.
We are like pieces of a puzzle... each one equally as important and unique =D.
Where do you reside?
by Danielle Crume © 2010
Wonderful! This combination of spiral shape and the color code used are a very interesting way to approach the evolution of consciousness. All at once and working at so many levels: cold/warm, smallest/biggest radius, individual/collective, inner/outer, how/what, unity/diversity, soul/mind, time scale, growth, skills, categories, functions... and at the end all is open and expanding. So beautiful. Thank you very much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteMike