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The Value of Spiral Dynamics integral Training

To: Business & Entrepreneurial Enterprises

To: Educators

To: Developers

To: Healthcare

To: Civil Society / NFP

To: City Managers

Personal - Self

1. Understand the value of a well balanced values "chord".  When people use the Spiral Dynamics integral (SDi) tools, they are able to see where they have poorly developed values and/or capacities, or in some cases where they are actively resisting specific values. SDi helps people to be more accepting of all the values/capacities in themselves and seek a balanced chord.

2. Make sense of your own personal history.  Many are able to chart the transition points in several specific areas of development (integral "lines") from one level to another in their own history.  SDi can serve as an interesting frame for your autobiography. An example cited by one person, is that it gave them a way to understand the very emotional shift from results orientation to egalitarianism and helped them resolve the doubts and guilt which they experienced in some of these transitions.

Personal - Others

1. Gain insights into individuals and their issues.  SDi has often been useful in understanding the development of the next generation(s) eg. children and grandchildren.  SDi can help parents and grandparents craft creative responses to the stages children go through; eg. being effective in handling a very willful and determined two-year old.

2. Comprehend and critique other's opinions and views  of current events and circumstances; eg. Afghanistan and Iraq.

3. Understand conflicts in real life, news, literature, movies, and the arts.  It appears that much of the energy generated in conflicts as personally witnessed in the general public and  presented in media, novels, movies and plays are cross-level (inter-meme) conflicts (e.g. Gangs of New York, Bend it like Beckham, Real Women Have Curves, Fight Club).

Workplace

1. In the practice of organizational psychology, grasp a much deeper and wholistic understanding of organizations and issues  with which clients struggle. This goes beyond dealing with symptoms, to helping clients identify causes which lie at deeper levels on the spiral. Check out an article by Dr. Bruce Gibbs (in the Organization Development Journal Vol. 21, No. 3) using SDi as a lens for viewing the strategies and methodologies in the Organizational Development/Transformation profession.

2. Use SDi to select and match people effectively to their jobs.  Various functions and processes need to be populated by individuals with particular strengths in one  or more of the values/capacities. This allows users to design systems and processes that are much more effective, and more robust when challenged with changing conditions.

3. Analyse cultures and societies.  SDi offers a practitioner ways to conceptualize cultures and societies that provide insights into societal conflicts (culture wars, political positions, the "isms" racism/ sexism); understanding of sectoral issues (Enron, Tyco, Wall street, etc..); and a framework for understanding history; eg. using SDi as the skeleton on which historical events can be arranged.

4. Realize the need for all values/capacities in organizations. SDi and Natural Design help users understand that teams and organizations need all the values/capacities to perform effectively.  

5. Develop your understanding of how to solve conflicts across individuals or groups that have different value systems. In short, SDi has direct practical applications to the ones who understand it well. It goes beyond diplomacy, and into conflict resolution. Users apply it to solve conflicts in their personal life, in other's lives, and within themselves.  SDi gives a better understanding of what synergy is about - a concept not seen often in personality theory.

6. Prevent simplistic approaches.  Often in the fast management and organization world, people want you to believe that major shifts (like mergers and acquisitions, succession planning or responding to sudden change) are easy to accomplish, using only superficial or simplistic solutions. With SDi users know they have to work, to think, be patient, be humble and not simplistic.

World

1. Acquire a framework that operates on multiple scales of application.  The beauty and elegance of SDi lies in the fact that it applies at the micro – meso and meta-frames.  For an SDi practitioner/consultant,  SDi provides a multi-scalar framework that helps to decide when and where to use other models and practices. SDi helps users see the value of models/practices and theories without making them the one and only answer to solve a problem; in fact more, SDi gives users support in freely choosing beyond their personal likes and dislikes. 

2. SDi is very clear in terms of what is called horizontal and vertical complexity. Compared with other frames, SDi provides clarity in seeing the verticality of low to high complexity as very useful in both "results oriented" and "people focused" worlds. At the same time it integrates and re-calibrates horizontal development into the vertical developmental view.

3. The relationship of the values/capacities across all of the four integral quadrants highlights the importance of each quadrant.   A multi-perspectival four quadrant view, prevents the favouring of one quadrant over another and prevents untenable conflicts.  SDi’s dynamic pluralism prevents the dominance of interior over exterior or individual over group or the other way around.

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