In a time of fast increasing complexity and connection all over the world it’s hard to keep the overview. Classical management approaches and the way we worked changed dramatically. Understanding the structure and behavior of your business, partners and customers is absolutely crucial for your success. Spiral Dynamics is a model, which simplifies complex organizational and societal behavior for a better understanding. Prof. Jon Beck, the inventor of spiral dynamics, aimed to describe human thinking in terms of an evolution of individual and societal value systems. Or to put it more easy: What worldview does the organization I’m confronted with have?
To get some order in the different worldviews he came up with different levels (MEMES). Like every model it shows us what is needed to understand the world, but doesn’t show the full reality.
Of course it is not a totalitarian approach. The question is more: What is the worldview the organization operates the most likely from? For example the way it’s structured with its cultural elements often gives some insights about the MEME it is acting from.
Just because there are different levels it does not mean that one stage is better than another. Due to the context one stage is more likely to come up with a working solution. The task of organizations is to provide a platform to create solutions which individuals couldn’t achieve on their own. Depending on the organization individuals can also grow and behave in a level with more complexity.
To improve the collaborations and organizations it’s important to understand why people make different decisions and what motivators work. How do they think and which values are important for them. It is more than just implementing new project management practices as lean and agile. For real change we also need to consider the underlying structures. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to understand the different ways of thinking and their matching value systems. It also improves your communication when you address people in the appropriate language. The result is a better understanding and not less important – a stronger connection.
With the Spiral Dynamic model you are able to map out organizational designs and leadership strategies that brings out the best in people to serve a specific goal. With the help of the Spiral Dynamic model you learn how to align the inner dynamics of people and create powerful systems that are primed for impact.
To learn more about Spiral Dynamics join the Workshop Evolutionary Leadership and Organizations -Spiral Dynamics Integral with Peter Merry. The author, speaker, global activist, leader, consultant and trainer founded the center for human emergence Netherlands and wrote the book Evolutionary Leadership. He is a recognised expert in the field of evolutionary systems dynamics from both a theoretical and a hands-on perspective.
