Keith E Rice - vMEMES

(of Spiral Dynamics)

PURPLE (B-O) thinking works on emotion, security, rituals, tokens, sense of belonging (my family, my friends, my workplace) and is very responsive to peer and family pressures

RED (C-P) thinking is assertive (aggressive!), energetic, powerful, indulgent, self-centred and wants to dominate/be the best

BLUE (D-Q) thinking is concerned with procedures, routines, order, quality, the correct way of doing things, is highly responsive to the 'correct' higher authority and punishes 'sinners'

ORANGE (E-R) thinking is strategic and future-focussed, wants to achieve and improve, loves technology and innovation, and marks progress - eg: with status and wealth

GREEN (F-S) thinking values people - all are equal and to be treated correctly, with decisions made by consensus

In which of these ways do you think - at what times and in what contexts/circumstances?

These vMEMES or modes of thinking form the second (PURPLE) through to the sixth (GREEN) levels of existence in Spiral Dynamics, the most advanced map of the human psyche developed to date. vMEMES can be thought of as 'core intelligences' - or even 'mini-selves'. They each have their own way of thinking, sets of needs and motivations, and contextual strengths and weaknesses.

Spiral Dynamics is derived from the work of Clare W Graves (1970, 1971/2002), himself an admirer of the work of Abraham Maslow and influenced initially by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1943).

Beginning in the early 1950s, Graves collected data on human motivational systems for nearly 30 years. His work is outlined in the Graves Model page. Eventually what emerged was his model of 8 Levels of Existence - the 5 most prevalent levels (in the Western world), with their Spiral Dynamics colour-coding, are described very briefly and basically above.

Graves' first A-N (BEIGE) level is Maslow's Survival level while the seventh G-T (YELLOW) - which he believed initiated a qualitatively-different 2nd Tier of thinking systems - he equated to Maslow's Self-Actualisation. The eighth H-U (TURQUOISE) level Maslow later (1971) considered 'Transcendence'.

Graves and Maslow weren't the only psychologists theorising about stages of development in the second half of the 20th Century. See the Developmental Comparison Map of Graves/Spiral Dynamics with other key models. Of those shown, that of Jane Loevinger (1976) most closely parallels Graves' 8 levels. However, Graves also described two transitional stages between each peak level - providing in total 22 identified thinking modes. He also theorised that the human brain was capable of developing new modes of thinking when new Life Conditons emerged which presented new problems of existence to be faced.The 8 peak levels - along with a theoretical ninth - are represented graphically below (in what has become known as the Spiral Dynamics 'balloon'!). See also the Children feature, 'How the Brain develops the Mind'. (There is yet to be any known scientifically-reliable evidence of anyone actually thinking at a ninth level or beyond.)

What made Graves' model different from any other was not only its accuracy and its sheer comprehensiveness but the way it identifies how the brain develops new systems of thinking and coping - signified by N-U in the Gravesian letter pairing of the level of existence - in symbiotic interaction with changing circumstances (Life Conditions) - signfied by A-H. This mind-environment interaction - in terms of the external environment, at least - is described by Albert Bandura (1977) as Reciprocal Determinism.

Recent neurobiological research into the neural plasticity of the brain - ie: its genetically-endowed ability to adapt to external stimuli and form new neuronal networks - offers much support for Graves' theory.

However, errors in understanding how vMEMES work can occur if the concept of ‘Life Conditions in the Environment’ is taken only as referring to external stimuli. There is much evidence that our thinking is influenced by internal factors, not least fluctuations in neurotransmitters and hormones. Certainly Sigmund Freud (1923), whose concept of the Id can be mapped to RED while his Superego matches BLUE, believed from his observations that the mind was driven largely by maturational forces.

Interior Environment is a recognised medical term for what is ‘inside the animal’ - so Life Conditions can be what is going on both inside and outside the body. This would fit with the 'Push & Pull' approach of Lawrence Kohlberg (1963) whose Stages of Moral Development can be seen as outputs of vMEME emergence. Kohlberg saw it as a case of maturational factors working to push the development from the inside but how fast and in what way emergence took place was influenced and shaped by external factors. Don Beck has addressed this maturational element explicitly in his concept of the 'Prime Directive' (2002). This is the code which facilitates the emergence of vMEMES in hierarchical order and in many ways parallels the idea of the Actualising Tendency put forward by Carl Rogers.(1959)

Two of Graves' most dedicated followers - Beck & Christopher Cowan (1996) - developed his model into Spiral Dynamics by linking it with the new science of Memetics, developed by the likes of Richard Dawkins (1976) and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1993). They coined the term 'vMEME' for the Gravesian system of thinking and saw them as attracting 'memes', thus extending Graves' concept of his systems (themas) having preferred 'schemas'.

Beck & Cowan also colour-coded the levels to make them easier to remember in training sessions and presentations.

More recently Beck has allied himself with Ken Wilber, arguably America's most pre-eminent philosopher. After years of cross-discipline/cross-culture studies, Wilber has endorsed Spiral Dynamics as most accurately describing the emergence of motivation in human thinking. Beck's Spiral Dynamics-integral meshes Spiral Dynamics with Wilber's Integral philosophy. This led to 4Q/8L (2000) which is so comprehensive it is effectively the framework on.which Integrated SocioPsychology is being built.

Through his association with Wilber, Beck has also queried whether every individual ascends the Spiral in exactly the same hierarchical way. (This is an echo of Maslow who also came to doubt whether everyone in every circumstance had to go through his levels in exactly the same way!)

Though it’s not by means conclusive, by and large the evidence seems to favour an every-vMEME-must-be-experienced view, Beck has come to acknowledge that some people do ascend the Spiral with a preference for one particular side - the self-expressive ('warm colours') or self-sacrificial/conformist ('cool colours'). For example, RED, ORANGE and (hopefully!) YELLOW will still emerge in someone with a preference for the cool colours but PURPLE, BLUE and/or GREEN are more likely to dominate

in their thinking in most circumstances.

While it is an area requiring much more investigation, my own research into the work of William Moulton Marston (1928) - whose behavioural types were a mix of motivational and temperamental factors - has found a degree of association between temperamental types - see Dimensions of Temperament - and the lower vMEMES which would go some way towards explaining 'warm' and 'cool' preferences.

The most important field trial of Spiral Dynamics to date has been in South Africa where Beck used the model to assist Nelson Mandela, F W DeKlerk and other key leaders in designing the mid-90s transition from Apartheid to multi-cultural democracy. During 1999 John L Peterson at the Arlington Institute conducted around 10,000 Spiral Dynamics assessments across several different cultures and found “no significant variations”.

The first major use of Spiral Dynamics in the UK was the 'HemsMESH' project, based at Hemsworth High School in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

The Relevance of vMEMES
In whatever walk of life - personal relationships, family and friends, work (public, private or voluntary sectors), politics, etc, etc - you deal with people. So how people see their circumstances and how they cope in those circumstances are critical factors affecting behaviour.

Spiral Dynamics enables us to understand the key driving forces underpinning people's behaviour - the vMEMES - to identify why they do what they do when they do it.

Moreover, in looking for what vMEMES are driving attitudes and behaviour, we need to be aware that vMEMES can be in conflict in the psyche - vMEME wars - often a significant contributing factor in mental health problems. For example, someone's RED wanting to express itself in a way BLUE deems unnacceptable. vMEMES can also work together - vMEME harmonics - eg: GREEN libertarianism unleashing RED self-indulgence. How different vMEMES ebb and flow in different areas of our life determines the vMEME stack.

The predictive nature of the model and the insight it gives us into the needs of each vMEME enables us to develop strategies to manage change in a way that really does take into account all the needs of all the stakeholders.

Don Beck terms the macro-application of Spiral Dynamics 'MeshWORKS'. Working through the lenses of 4Q/8L is usually the most effective way of constructing a MeshWORK.

Spiral Dynamics can be used in commerce and industry to work internally on management development and workforce culture issues and externally to understand customers better and to improve customer relations.

Case studies of applying Spiral Dynamics in both a commercial company and a local authority team are available in the Services pages.

Spiral Dynamics helps us to identify many of the factors which contribute to problem behaviour in school classrooms. Click here to view materials I developed which were used by Don Beck in his keynote address to the World Education Fellowship Conference in Sun City, South Africa, in April 2001.

A number of practitioners working in counselling and therapy are using Spiral Dynamics to ascertain which vMEMES have developed unhealthily so they can work out just what the individuals concerned need to break through deep psychological blockages. The Therapy pages include several case studies from my own work with clients.

Spiral Dynamics, especially when used to underpin Neurological Levels and applied through the frame of 4Q/8L, is at the core of Integrated SocioPsychology, a key aim of which is to reconcile and align the disciplines of the behavioural sciences and their competing schools - in the process drawing upon complimentary disciplines in the hard sciences (Biology, Neuroscience).

If you wish to really understand what is going on when people behave in a way you don't understand or don't like, or don't like, then you need to be aware of which vMEMES are leading them to do what.

Spiral Dynamics® and the Spiral 'balloon' graphic are registered trademarks of the National Values Centre Inc, USA.

Click here to learn about Integrated SocioPsychology open workshop programmes which have Spiral Dynamics at their core.

vMEME Links

NVC Inc
The 'official home' of Spiral Dynamics

Global Values Network
Web site run by Don Beck & Alan Tonkin which uses Spiral Dynamics to look at vMEMETIC cultural shifts on a global level

Spiral Dynamics Integral

Dr Don Beck's web site

NVC Consulting
Web site of Christopher Cowan & Dr Natasha Todorovic

Center for Human Emergence
Web site focussing on applying Spiral Dynamics Integral and the MeshWORKS concept to change projects in the public, private and voluntary sectors both within and and across national boundaries - also acts as a portal site to the regional and national CHE sites.