Human beings are incredibly adaptable by nature.  Through his research Dr Clare W Graves explained how, as the problems we face in life become more complex, new and more complex thinking and behaviours can emerge to allow us to cope.  This pattern of change is fractal, which means that the same pattern occurs at all scales, whether we look at individuals, communities, nations or the whole of humanity.

For adaptive change to occur in a sustainable way, six conditions are required according to Graves.  By looking for these six conditions we can assess whether major change is viable, or not.  This simple assessment is potentially worth a fortune when you look at how much is spent on unsuccessful change initiatives.  So here are the six conditions needed for sustainable developmental change.

1. Potential

The individual, organisation or community must have the inherent potential to undergo developmental change.  Sometimes as a result of our personal potential, our past experiences or the current environment, we may not be open to change.  Graves documented examples where people were temporarily arrested and others where people were closed to change as a result of these factors.  People who are arrested have the capacity to change back (regress) to previous ways of coping, but not forwards.  People who are closed rigidly apply one way of coping, unable to change their thinking or behaviour.

2. Solutions

Solutions must be found to life’s more basic problems before developmental change can occur.   Graves demonstrated that development is a staged process and progression to higher stages requires the resolution of problems specific to the preceding stages.  Put simply, while our basic needs are unmet we’re unlikely to allocate energy to solving more complex problems.  Free energy is needed to fuel the change process.

3. Dissonance

Dissonance means feeling that something isn’t quite right.  Over time this feeling can precipitate a crisis.  Some of Graves’ research subjects referred to this as having their ‘complacency disturbed’.  Without it, there’s no reason to change.  Dissonance triggers a regressive search through old behaviours for something that might re-establish stability.  We often hear people say things like ‘let’s get back to basics’.  The regressive search will end in arrest (getting stuck), regression to the old ways, or in the eventual emergence of a new worldview (ie developmental stage).

4. Insights

Insights into viable alternatives must be available.  In an individual these result from chemical changes in the brain which activate the next most complex neuropsychological system, bringing new ways of thinking.  The chemical changes are fuelled by dissonance and the resulting crisis (this is the proverbial alchemist’s furnace).  These are the classic innovative ‘light bulb’ moments when we suddenly think outside the box, opening up access to entirely new worldviews and behaviours.

5. Barriers

Any barriers to the implementation of insights must be identified and dealt with for change to proceed.   Barriers may be external, such as organisational or social designs and systems, or internal such as ways of thinking, social taboos and perceived cultural norms.

6. Support for consolidation

Once new ways of thinking and behaving have successfully emerged, a period of consolidation is needed to embed these new ways as the new ‘normal’.  This requires the persistence of the life conditions (problems of existence) that drove the change and the continued success of the new ways of coping.

It’s complex!

One of the complications Graves found in applying the six conditions was that different kinds of dissonance, insights and barriers (etc) showed up at different stages of development.  For example people who were changing from the Authoritarian to the Enterprising worldview (see the change map) required different insights and faced different barriers than someone who might be changing from Enterprising to Humanistic.  This is an extremely important point for change facilitators.

In unsuccessful change projects, too often the insights and support being provided are inappropriate, resulting from little or no understanding of the staged development process.  Many classic examples are available in the media right now, where highly developed countries are (at enormous expense) attempting to change less developed countries or communities, but are using largely inappropriate strategies.  For example, both the intervention in Afghanistan and the Australian Government’s intervention in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory reflect an inadequate understanding of developmental change.

Look for the six conditions

So when planning and facilitating change, look to see which of the six conditions are present (or possible) and understand your starting point on the change map.  Only then can you help provide the insights and support needed for natural, sustainable change to occur.

Reference:
Graves, C. (2005). The Never Ending Quest, Christopher. C. Cowan and N. Todorovic, eds. Santa Barbara, USA: ECLET Publishing.