FAQs > Questions About Spiral Dynamics Applications

• Who can understand and apply this theory?
  
• What is "the design question?"
  
• Are there other people applying this model?
  
• Does SD/Graves theory apply to large groups and not to individuals?
  
  

Who can understand and apply this theory?

The Spiral Dynamics theory is accessible to any curious human being of reasonable intelligence. However, people will understand and use it in different ways, based on their needs, interest, experience, intelligence and where they are along the spiral. There are different ways of thinking about the theory, just like everything else.

Applications can range from a set of basic how-to instructions for recognizing and managing differences to an elaborate schema for dealing with simultaneous change in complex systems. The more expansive the thinking, the more aspects of the theory become useful, and the more possibilities open up. It does appear that this sort of inclusive perspective becomes more "natural" with the emergence of the 7th (Yellow, A'N') level and easier to understand with greater openness. 

While a person operating at a lower level might have difficulty identifying with the worldview of someone operating at a higher level, or even mischaracterize it entirely, that does not mean that the person cannot learn the means of dealing with such people and do so effectively, though not intuitively, with adequate training and coaching.

At the same time, a person operating at a higher level might have difficult dealing with people operating in a lower zone because the pressing concerns and ways of adjusting that fit there are subsumed and even forgotten. Some re-learning often must occur so important aspects are not overlook or disrespected. In both cases, it is important that these persons be in open conditions, or at the most mildly arrested, since those who are closed have great difficulty stepping outside their own boxes. It is also important that the person be open-minded to allow room for differences. 

Most important to understanding and applying this theory is an attitude of curiosity, motivation and patience since it often takes a great deal of experience and learning to understand and apply it effectively. Sometimes years are required to go through the process from "This is way too complicated to be useful." to "I see the world in different way." It can be a lot of fun as well.






What is "the design question?"

A simple way to frame the elements in a Gravesian analysis of an activity—business, education, politics, health care or whatever—is to ask a simple question: "How should who manage (or teach or lead or coach or facilitate) whom to do what?" To add a temporal component, include "when?" This was one approach Dr. Graves advocated to make practical use of his point of view since each element can be broken out according to principles in ECLET theory.

• “How” includes and inventory of the alternative models, means and tools. It can range from hard, pragmatic realities to wild imagination and best-case guesswork.
• “Who” defines the choices of teacher, manager, leader, etc.—the person who will best fit the people and situation given the possibilities at hand.
• The verb “manage,” etc., is part of the work to be done—the facilitative function that causes action. It’s important to engage the correct sort of action step and to implement it in a way that is congruent with the task and the people involved. The important aspect is the interface between teacher and learner, coach and client, manager and managed, colleague and colleague.
• The “whom'” element is the differentiation of thinking and capabilities, the recognition that people are different, have different needs and operate on different levels of existence.
• “To do” calls for an assessment of competencies and the requirements to accomplish the work to be done, whether physical, mental or emotional. More than that, it’s the way of thinking that the work requires, the situation presents, and the milieu presents to those entering it.
• 'What' is the character of the work to be done. This includes complexity of work, repetitiveness, temperament required, intelligences demanded, risks and benefits, etc.
• Finally, the 'when' element recognizes that individuals and organizations change, so it’s important to recognize where in their lifecycle stages the intervention is occurring with the recognition that events are sometimes loops, often spirals. This is the timing question and suggests that what worked then might not work now, and what works now might not work tomorrow. 

Putting all of these chunks together, the design question provides an elegant way to look at the many factors that affect people in organizations and forces us to think about the relationships among them. It provides a useful tool to stretch across surface, hidden, and deep values, and reminds us that elements connect across many variables. 






Are there other people applying this model?

Many people are using Spiral Dynamics. Only a few are using the original work of Dr. Graves, however. 

There are now quite a few spin-offs derived from Spiral Dynamics of varying quality, along with reinterpretations and some genuine, first-rate nonsense. An Internet search will now lead you to many groups and websites discussing the point of view. Some are better than others, and we suggest caution and doing some Gravesian homework first. Some prominent "experts" are only C students where this material is concerned, despite paid search engine links and heavy promotion.

We maintain the original, foundational materials and offer extensive in-depth training in our Spiral Dynamics 1 and 2 certifications, as well as other courses for those seriously interested in Graves theory as used in Spiral Dynamics. For the names of individuals and organizations that have participated in our training, please go to the People section under Resources at the top of your screen. For a list of certified trainers, please go to the Partners section under About NVC at the top of your screen. 






Does Spiral Dynamics/Graves theory apply to large groups and not to individuals?

Graves sought a theory derived from principles that would apply to individuals, groups, societies, and all of Homo sapiens. The notion that Spiral Dynamics/Graves applies only for large groups and large-scale systems and not to individuals is nonsense. As anyone who looks through many of Dr. Graves' papers recognizes, he gathered most of his data from assessments of individuals and concentrated on conceptions of the mature adult personality in operation. Although his early work was in clinical settings, his interests ranged from individual to cultural levels with the belief that both develop according to a similar set of underlying principles.

Many of Graves’ conclusions and recommendations apply to social change and human betterment. Though his laboratory studies were with individuals and small groups, much of Graves’ library research was in the literature of anthropology and sociology through scholars who concentrated on the broad picture of human emergence. The focus on applications to large-scale systems and governance is very Gravesian, though his underlying research was not. So, the idea that the work doesn’t fit individual psychology is an aberration that isn’t accurate to the core work at all. Quite the contrary, the stretch has been to larger systems.

A central tenet of the Gravesian point of view is that psychology is fractal-like; i.e., the psychology of the individual nests within the psychology of the group, which nests within the psychology of the society, which nests within the species. The development of the individual is a microcosm of the history of human life (with a reversed time scale). To say that Spiral Dynamics is a model that applies only to groups and not to individual emergence and development is misleading and a disservice to potential users of a point of view that seeks to connect the levels, not to disconnect them.