ENTERING 2023

by jon freeman

Spiral Dynamics is a system for describing the ways in which human mindsets evolve to adapt to changes in our life conditions.  Spiral Dynamics is to human cultural evolution, what Darwinistic adaption is to biological evolution. 

The graphic below gives indications of what characterises each stage. The stages apply both as a description of our long-timeline societal evolution and of present changes at all scales from personal through organisations, social groups and nations.  While it is therefore complex, it is also capable of being directed towards less granular enquiries.

You can think of the stages, and the colours which provide a convenient mnemonic for them, as systems in people.  They are not types of people, nor do people function from only one of the systems at a time.  They are sets of priority codes for life. Most of us have a preferred set, a centre of gravity from which we make meaning of the world and choices of how best to function.

While change is a constant feature of living systems, the degree of change fluctuates and at times demands greater degrees of adaptation.  In regard to the diagram, while most of Western humanity lives in the Blue through Green stages, our life conditions present the listed characteristics of Yellow, the economic demands of caring (including care for the planet) and the increase in chaos and disorder.  This article addresses our potential responses.      

What does “the Spiral” have to say about 2023? 

A summary graphic of the Spiral developmental trajectory is provided below.  However, those who are not familiar with the framework are encouraged to “go with the flow” of the narrative that follows.  The stage details are not essential to this message and to its indications regarding the shifts in ways of thinking that will become important as we adapt to increasingly chaotic times.

While the correct answer is “nothing”, since the dynamics are not predictive and always uncertain, I want to play a little with what I see happening in the “field”.  Horizon-scanning is one level of functionality and leadership that Spiral Dynamics calls for us to perform.

Even though evident complexity and turbulence mean the crystal ball is cloudy, it is in the nature of living systems to respond adaptively, and Prof. Clare W. Graves was clear both about the general trajectory and about the fact that in human thinking systems, adaptation has always happened….eventually.

We have been on the cusp for some while.  The Orange systems of materialistic science and mechanistic economics have been challenged by new evidence and by visible outcomes alike. Orange’s own practical failures, unforeseen consequences and delusions of human control have shown that it is internally inadequate in both theory and intention.  It has been under external pressure from the Blue ordering and regulation structures, which Orange has undermined, from the Green stage push to value humans and from integrative Yellow perspectives to acknowledge and engage with the complexity itself and with the planet as a system.

We are on that cusp because of resistance.  Gamma-state barriers to change show up because of embedded and rigid structures such as corporate economics, hierarchical elitism and political power blocs.  Blue-Orange mindsets are fearful that Green will turn control into chaos.  For centuries we have been educated that linear rational thinking and cause-and-effect mechanisms can provide prediction and control.  However, these methods are incapable of dealing with multiple interwoven strands and complex systems.  This applies equally at the global, national, societal and corporate scales and is even true of our personal operating system.

Sooner or later these life conditions cannot be maintained; breakdown becomes inevitable.  I am suggesting that 2023 is likely to be the year in which we see matters come to a head.  Given the nature of the complexity, the form in which breakdown occurs is not predictable. But when so many interlinked subsystems form this house of cards it hardly matters which of them topples first.  When the collapse comes, we will be forced to recognise that “predict and control” was a failed strategy and does not offer genuine solutions.  While there will be those who capitalise on fear and try to impose old ways of militarism and dictatorship, they will also fail.

So is there a viable alternative?  What do we need to do?

The answers are present in the coming stages if we are willing to take the next adaptive step, or leap.  I say stages, plural, because even the Spiral needs to be looked at without too much linearity.  Yellow integration and Turquoise planetary holism are already co-emerging and even pioneering Coral may be glimpsed in the distance.  To see them with clarity we need to look in new ways and not through our habitual lenses.  Then we need to embrace and apply them in our choices. 

Stages are sets of priority codes for what we consider to be important to our survival.  We can’t force others to change their priorities, but we have the ability to choose our own, to give them more attention and intention and to change our behaviours.  Here is a short list of some options that I have found valuable in my own development and that meet the adaptive needs described above.

1.       From Yellow: intentionally engage to understand the dynamics of complexity, most particularly in relation to living human systems.  Engage with the way that the underlying Spiral principles operate and notice

a.       the balance of individual and collective needs

b.       how the interrelationship between interior mindsets and exterior artefacts or systems blends change and stability (homeodynamics rather than homeostasis)

c.       that the building blocks from earlier systems become the foundational components for higher levels in a hierarchy of complexity

d.       that because of c., systems are built both bottom-up and top-down and living systems are emergent, not directed

e.       that organisational and societal structures must leverage the perceptions and intelligences from all levels in order to respond with the most complete adaptive awareness

f.        that the Orange scientific perspective is dysfunctional and not equipped to deliver the bandwidth of knowledge that these principles demand

g.       that even the view of who and what you are as an individual human may need to change in order to encompass the above

2.       From Turquoise: intentionally engage with more holistic perspectives and the relationship between the human world and the planet itself as a living system.  That includes

a.       learning and leveraging the perspectives of Purple to revise our assumptions about our identity and bonding (familial, tribal-ancestral and social boundary-holding)

b.       embracing and developing the capacities for connection in the non-material realms with deeper awareness of cultural habits and contexts as well as “modern shaman” techniques for intuition, psychic connection, field awareness and “constellation” sensing modalities.

c.       discovering the required blend of structural support and behavioural principles that are required to produce flexible relationship between the needs of the one and the health of the whole

3.       (Potentially) from Coral: beginning to engage with the question of how our personal empowerment and need to express our full being operates within the interconnectedness of the whole so as to deliver maximum personal expression as a contribution to the movement of the whole. 

How can I learn more about Spiral Dynamics?

I am a practitioner applying my understanding of the spiral in a variety of ways as a consultant and mentor to individuals and organisations.  I am also active in developing the wider application of the theory in relation to living systems as a whole and to opening a reframe of our scientific perspectives. 

I provide trainings and certifications in Spiral Dynamics and its applications, the next one of which is a training in Organisational Development, beginning on January 30th.  There is also, in parallel, a  prerequisite Introductory Level 1 which I offer together with my colleague Auke van Nimwegen.

Jon Freeman is a certified master trainer and acknowledged thought leader in the Graves development theory (aka Spiral Dynamics)and a DeepChange master trainer in emotional and spiritual intelligence. To find out more about his work visit: http://www.spiralfutures.com, or follow him across socials.

Medium:   https://medium.com/@jon_25033

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Website:   www.spiralfutures.com

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