All change is characterised by a spiralling sine wave pattern of variation between two poles, and movement towards either simplicity or complexity.  While the details of the future are not always predictable, an understanding of these underlying patterns of change can be quite useful in predicting the general themes of future events.

In his research, Dr Clare W Graves mapped out a wave-like pattern of change in individual and social development that swings between an ‘I/Me/Mine’ focus and a ‘We/Us/Our’ focus, and progresses (or regresses) through various stages or levels of complexity. The image below maps some of his findings, showing the wave like movement through various stages.  Graves found that  this movement through stages occurs as an adaptive response to variations in the complexity of life conditions.

The spectrum of life conditions, from simple to more complex, is indicated by the grey line.  The coloured shapes represent distinct stages that people move through as they adapt to cope with more (or less) complex  life conditions.  Each higher stage is layered over the previous ones, like the skin on an onion, and brings a distinctly different worldview, including more complex values, interests, motivations and biases.  Throughout history there has been a general trend towards more complex (higher) stages, with new stages emerging at the top of the map as the world becomes a more complex place.  this trend seems set to continue, although it is quite possible and normal for people and societies to regress to lower, more simple stages as their life conditions demand.

This change journey, from Instinctive-Survival through to Intuitive-Holonic and beyond (it’s an open-ended system), seems to represent a consistent pattern of change for both individuals and social groups regardless of scale.

Some key points to note are:

• Change in people occurs as an adaptive response to their life conditions becoming more or less complex
• Each successive (higher) stage on the journey brings an increased capacity to cope with complexity
• The previous ways of coping (stages) are layered inside the new and can still be accessed if life conditions demand
• Movement between the stages is highly dynamic (in both directions). Development up the scale is a long term process, but movement back down can occur in an instant in response to change
• The different stages determine how people think, not what they think
• The Tribal, Authoritarian, Humanistic and Intuitive stages are characterised by ‘WE, US, OUR’ community minded thinking
• The Instinctive, Powerful, Enterprising and Integral stages are characterised by ‘I, ME, MINE’ individually minded thinking
• The different stages are often referred to by a colour code (from Spiral Dynamics), in order from the bottom of the map: Beige, Purple, Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow, Turquoise

Human development occurs through the stages successively, which means that stages can’t be skipped over; each one must be passed through in succession.

The distinctive thinking, structures and processes found at each of the stages is outlined below:

• Level 8 (Turquoise) – Intuitive-Holonic: Thinking is holistic, structures are global, processes are flowing and ecological
• Level 7 (Yellow) – Integral-Adaptive: Thinking is systemic, structures are interactive, processes are integrative
• Level 6 (Green) – Humanistic-Networked: Thinking is relativistic, structures are egalitarian, processes are consensual
• Level 5 (Orange) – Enterprising-Success: Thinking is multiplistic, structures are delegative, processes are strategic
• Level 4 (Blue) – Authoritarian-Order: Thinking is absolutistic, structures are pyramidal, processes are authoritarian
• Level 3 (Red) – Powerful-Empire: Thinking is egocentric, structures are empires, processes are exploitative
• Level 2 (Purple) – Tribal-Safety: Thinking is animistic, structures are tribal, processes are circular
• Level 1 (Beige) – Instinctive-Survival: Thinking is automatic, structures are loose bands, process is survivalistic

The above information is based on the research findings of Dr Clare W Graves (1914-1986), which has been popularised in the book Spiral Dynamics by authors Dr Don Beck and Christopher Cowan.  Dr Beck has further developed the model in conjunction with Ken Wilber as Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi).

According to Graves’ research, the key to making sense of and facilitating change is in understanding the role that life conditions play in catalysing human adaptation.