I am planning[1] on this being the first of several posts taking a critical look at Graves’ research into E-C theory, commonly known as Spiral Dynamics. While I think that Graves’ research methodology was superb for the era it was performed. In a time when most psychological researchers developed a theory and then tried to fit evidence to that theory, Graves designed an experiment that removed his ideas from the research and only developed the theory after many years of research [2]. However there are known flaws[3] and further academic research (and peer review) would be wonderful.

The issue I want to look at today is one that lies at the heart of his theory.  Graves developed his theory after gathering written descriptions from freshman students about their ‘conception(s) of psychologically mature human behavior’ [4]. He then has a second group of students categorise these conceptions. This on its own is a wonderful idea; rather than try to impose his own order on the conceptions, he had many different groups of students categorise them for him. The categorisations that were developed were markedly similar, although there was some variation.[5]

My criticism is that because the students needed to be graded and in order to incentivise his students to be honest he developed a set of criteria that would be used for grading.[6]

1. Breadth of coverage of human behaviour
2. Concurrence with established psychological fact.
3. The internal consistency of the conception.
4. The applicability of the conception.

I can see issues with several of these criteria but today I am going to concentrate on just the third.

Graves states that 60% of conceptions where considered to be consistent by the judges [7], but by incentivising consistency he may well have inadvertently introduced artificial consistency into the conceptions where there is none, or at least biased the degree of consistency. I can think of reasons for Graves wanting to keep the conceptions consistent. For example, this allowed him to ask his students for an updated conception at the end of the course and use this data to work out how conceptions evolve over time, this is very useful knowledge, but it may be the case that peoples conceptions are rarely consistent.

Further to this. Whilst using students to create the categorisation prevented Graves from artificially creating categories, it did not address the potential problem of biases within human perception of others values. In other words, the conceptions that are identified could be artificial constructions of human perception and language rather than points that are inherently unique.

Several vectors were identified when peoples conceptions evolve that I do not think are effected by this issue. (although further research would be needed to confirm this.)

1. Increased evolution brings an increasing complexity of conception.[8]
2. Increased evolution brings a greater degree of behavioural freedom.[9]

Other issues are, I think, more likely to be effected.  For example, that conceptions, when consistent, oscillate from ‘I’ systems, with an internal sense of authority and an external locus of control to ‘we’ systems with an external sense of authority and an internal locus of control.  When the conceptions are inconsistent this may no longer be the case. Inconsistent conceptions may not centralise on an ‘I’ or a ‘we’ state in the same place as the consistent conceptions when looking at the complexity of conception or the degree of behavioural freedom.

This brings into doubt the even, ordered nature of the way peoples conceptions evolve. For example, in not looking at the inconsistent conceptions, he may be missing conceptions that are not easily categorisable because they consist of a mix of easily identifiable conceptions. For example, someone might express a mixture of DQ and FS (pairing in Cowan and Todorovic language) with low ER and yet have the behavioural freedom and complexity of conception of someone with a consistent ER conception.

Further study would be needed to confirm this and unfortunately Graves’ many years of raw data has been lost so it would need to be done from scratch. Some longitudinal studies are ideally needed to identify how all peoples conceptions evolve and not just the consistent conceptions. A good starting point would be to identify an up to date methodology for identifying the degree of complexity of the conceptions and the degree of behavioural freedom expressed by people.

Notes

1. I say ‘planning’ because I have about ten ideas for posts for every one I have time to write.

2. The Never Ending Quest. Clare W Graves. pp38-39.

3. We looked at several on Cowan and Tordovics SD1 and SD2 course. In particualar the poor sample that 1950s American colledge students made.

4. The Never Ending Quest. Clare W Graves. pp44-46

5. The Never Ending Quest. Clare W Graves. p47

6. The Never Ending Quest. Clare W Graves. p45

7. The Never Ending Quest. Clare W Graves. pp56, 92

8. cognitive complexity - Graves used a modified version of George Kelly’s REP test. http://www.clarewgraves.com/research_content/CG&OJH/2.html

9. behavioural freedom was measured by the student judges - The Never Ending Quest. Clare W Graves. p114

(This is one of a series of posts exploring EC Theory / Spiral Dynamics. If you read this post alone you will get a very distorted view as to what spiral dynamics is as the post is written from one particular viewpoint. To read them in sequence, please start in the Spiral Dynamics intro category.)

It has come to me recently that in the past I did not consider the consequences of my actions. I would just see something that I wanted and take it. I am glad I have found the Party. I have been given my rightful station and a task to complete. I am to study the truth of the Spiral Dynamic

There are religious heathens on our border who believe in God being the ultimate source of wisdom and knowledge. Infidels. Do they not know that wise party member Claregreve divined the truth? Using the ancient way of consulting the Spiral Dynamic at midnight. Claregreve has the esteemed honour of being prime amongst us mere mortals before the absolute truth of all.

A few years have passed. Party be blessed. I still hold the esteemed position in the order of all things. The party has successfully eradicated the godly heathens to the west. We have conquered their land and brought it under the true rule of the Party. We tortured the animals who would not repent. They clearly have not evolved enough to see the one truth.

No sooner than we put down the godly heathens that a faction has broken away to the south claiming that there is a new way divined though the way of the Spiral Dynamic. they claim that our way is inferior. We will win, as defined by the true Spiral Dynamic. The faction is not far from our location. I have been commanded to write down the truth so that it can be saved should our position be temporarily overrun.

The Spiral Dynamic commands thus:-

There are two kinds of human. Those that follow the true way of the Spiral Dynamic and those who do not. Of the heathens there are four subtypes.

1. The savage. These are designated the colour beige. They wander the wilderness looking for food and shelter. They are rare even beyond the borders of the empire of Spiral Dynamic.

2. The tribespeople. These are designated the colour purple. They live in the far reaches of the known lands. On an expedition last year we encountered one such tribe, their heathen ways were very strange. I suggested that we put them to the stake, but my leader said that we should study and catalogue them and see if they could be saved by the Spiral Dynamic. He was a wise leader, his words were true, praise him. These people speak backwards. They see the past in front of them when clearly the future is what lies before us, as the great spiral ticks forwards each unit of time moves one more step into the future. Purple people are always found in small tribes together. The heathens believe that their dead ancestors talk to them in their dreams, but we know as heathens they will have no place in the glorious Spiral Dynamic.

3. The barbarian. These people are designated the colour red. They do as they please. They know no law and just take as they wish. Sometimes when the purples go hungry they head to our cities and are red when they arrive. This transformation is beyond my humble mind but the Spiral Dynamic will reveal its truth when I am worthy. Often they band together into small gangs, raiding the villages. They have no care for the future and no care for each other beyond what is useful to them at the time. The Spiral Dynamic states that one of them will take great risks to save one of his own gang, only to turn around and beat the saved man to a pulp for making himself vulnerable.

4. The lost peoples. These people are designated the colour blue. They claim to know the one true way, they claim that God or some other ideal provides the ultimate law of truth. They are wrong. The one and only true way is described by the law of Spiral Dynamic. People who live this way have laws and order, they form towns and cites and the people within them know their places, yet they are heathens and for all their similarities to the one true way and they are eternally damned. Blue peoples, like the godly peoples to the west that we recently vanquished, form civilisations, they understand that the future must be considered in all the actions that we make, yet they do not consider that future in the true way.

I have been trying to place this new faction into the four heathen groups. I am having trouble doing so. The cities they have taken over are reportedly not burning to the ground as they would if red elements had taken over, yet they do not easily fit into blue because the reports say that they do not follow a fixed law. Instead they have people they call ‘lawyers’ who fight with words to decide who describes the truth the most accurately. I can not envision how this could be so, surely they would just break down into anarchy and start killing each other, yet reportedly this is not what happens. My superior has told me not to worry about it, the Spiral Dynamic will show the true way, but I can not help but feel concerned. I am not trusting my superiors wisdom. This is not good, I will loose my way from the Spiral Dynamic if I keep questioning in this way.

The true way of the Spiral Dynamic is lost. The faction has over ridden us. My supervisor jumped from his window this morning. He said he would rather die in truth than have to live under false rulers. I am hesitating from taking such action myself. It seems that when I think about it, there may be some truth in what the faction has to say. The claim that they are working under a new paradigm, one that they call orange, they also claim that what I saw as the true way is in reality just another expression of blue.

This makes some sense to me now. I need to think about it for myself some more before I come to a conclusion.

(This is one of a series of posts exploring EC Theory / Spiral Dynamics. If you read this post alone you will get a very distorted view as to what spiral dynamics is as the post is written from one particular viewpoint. To read them in sequence, please start in the Spiral Dynamics intro category.)

The way of spirits is failing me. The tribe has grown, many strangers have moved amongst us, one of them took me without the blessing of the ancestors and I am lost now.

The gods have given me the desire to take what I wish from the ancient lore of Spiral Dynamics. My brother told me that I was walking the path of the snake, fool. He is stupid and does not do as I tell him. The others are attacking the tribe this morning. I pick up the boiling pot and kill a man as he is aiming a spear at my brother. My brother is grateful and thanks the spirits. I told him he was a fool and that it was me he should be grateful too, he told me not to disrespect the ancestors and I clobbered him too. I did not mean to kill him, he was useful to me, but never mind.

The elder said that the snake had possessed me and I was dead to them. I am leaving the tribe. I am travelling to city to take what is mine.

As I travel I seduce a man and take his food and, then slit his throat, I will not let a foul beast such as that posses me.

There are many people here in the city. Many men to seduce, the good ones I let take me - for a good price, the bad - I just take their money. I have some women under me who do as I say and I am to be sure they are fed. There are many riches to be had in the city, I just have to take them. A man came today and became violent with one of my woman, I had my pimp take him and dump him in the river, no one does that to me. My woman was grateful to me.

My pimp let me seduce him, the fool. I am boss now and he knows his place. One of my woman tried to drown me when I was having a bath. How could my own do that to me? Never mind she is dead now. I have looked up the lore of Spiral Dynamics and created a few rules. No killing the boss is rule number one.

I must pay taxes to the church for God. It is a good racket that they have there. Everyone obeying the master, even when he is not looking. I do not like paying, but I am told I must or they will bring the law down on me. I am not afraid.

They came to get me this morning. They have locked me in a cell and told me that I am charged with article 127. I do not know what I did.

I have been in the cell for a long time now. I felt confused for a long time, but feel better now. There are three others in my cell. We fought at first but the warden would punish us whenever we did and we could not get back at him so we are getting on now. It is nice in a way, not to have to be the boss any more. I do not like being in here, always having to follow the rules, but I am given food every day that I do not have to kill for.

I have found God. The priest has shown me the holy way of Spiral Dynamics and I obey its every law now, we will all be better for it. I am no longer in prison, God be praised, I can serve my true master now with my devoted brothers and sisters.

(This is one of a series of posts exploring EC Theory / Spiral Dynamics. If you read this post alone you will get a very distorted view as to what spiral dynamics is as the post is written from one particular viewpoint. To read them in sequence, please start in the Spiral Dynamics intro category.)

Spiral Dynamics is a gift from the ancestors through which the clouds of the future become a little clearer behind us. The ancestors have given us this knowledge that we might best know how to live.

The ancestors bring love to our hearts that we may share with one another the spirits of desire as they sing though us whilst the hollow tree beats out its heartbeat upon our hands.

The ancestors show us that when the goddess of the loins wishes to bring more among us than the deities of the forest are willing to share with us, then the spirit of the monkey may come amongst us and we will fight with our blood and entrails and feast upon those who walk the path of spirit.

When the snake speaks through a young man who is possessed to walk alone, then he is no longer of our family and he dies even though his ghost still walks and breathes in the forest.

The man snakes attack us, they do not fight in the way the ancestors proscribe. They kill all, and only to eat the fish that the spirits had deigned to us, then move on, leaving the spirits unrecognised.

I am alone now. The man snakes confuse me. But I feel I am becoming one of them.

Rather than just regurgitating material that is already published in my own words, I have decided to have some fun and have myself the task of explaining what E-C theory is from each of the different values systems within the theory. When approaching clients I have to be able to explain the theory and I have to do it in a way that they will comprehend, a large part of this is finding the language of their values and then explaining it as best I can.

I am going to start with a B-O explanation. Which I have never had to do, as B-O as a dominant system simply does not really exist in the modern world. It is going to be a challenge and I will have to use a little creative licence.

Don’t worry if you don’t know what ‘value systems’ or the different letter pairs mean yet, that will come clear in time. It might be interesting for you to note down your response to each description, e.g. a) how much do you like/dislike the sound of it. b) did you have trouble wrapping your head around it. c) after reading it, how well could you explain it to someone else. I’ll be very supprised if you relate strongly to B-O, and I won’t be supprised if you wonder what I’m on about, bare with it and come back to this system later if it makes no sense to you now.

Important note: All of these different descriptions are biased and stereotyped towards one particular expression of the value system being expressed. They are not necessarily representative, I have to some extent purposefully veered away from the more common stereotypes - but all the expressions are still stereotypes. This will become clearer in the later value systems, these systems do not really exist, they are simply artefacts of the theory and the manner in which our minds latch onto information to make sense of it. There are many contradictions from one description to another. This is on purpose to highlight some of the contradictions within the theory; take all factoids with a pinch of salt and try to let the over all picture of the theory settle in - this is the useful part of the theory.

(edited 22/05/08 - added important note)

(part of a series of posts introducing E-C Theory and Spiral Dynamics)

E-C theory was developed by a man called Clare Graves. In the early 1950s he was a psychology professor who had an itch to scratch, but he could not quite find the spot. His students kept asking him which of the psychological models that were prevalent at the time actually worked. The problem was, as far as he could tell, none of them did. This inspired him to develop an experiment that he hoped would shed some insight on the matter. It went something like this.

He set an assignment for for one of his new freshman classes. In this assignment he asked his students to write a description of what they considered to be ideal human behaviour. He then passed these papers to another group of freshman students who did not know the first group and asked them to group the papers in categories. The only condition on them being grouped was that the students thought that the papers were similar.

He then repeated, washed and rinsed the same experiment for the next nine years and then spent the next twenty years adding new variables, cross correlating with of other psychological research and performing longitudinal studies.

The end result of all this was a pile of data and a theory with a schizophrenic name. At the time he stopped writing he referred to it as the ‘Emergent, Cyclical, Double-Helix Model of Adult Human Biopsychosocial Systems’, which is a bit shorter than some of his earlier names. Unfortunately, while Graves was writing his magnum opus he had a stroke after which he never managed to finish his book.

Fortunately his work did not completely die with him, several of his students including Christopher Cowan and Don Beck set up in business as consultants using Graves work to help people and in particular businesses. They needed a business name that would help them sell their wares and they came up with the name Spiral Dynamics.

The Spiral Dynamics team carried on where Graves left off, their studies expanding with a more cross cultural perspective and looking at the specific problems that their clients were faced with. Eventually, they wrote a book, published in 1996 called, ‘Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change‘.

A few years later Cowan and Beck parted ways. Both carried on in the same vein of business consultancy, however both also developed in new directions as well. Cowan, along with his new partner Natasha Todorovic managed to unearth a lot of Graves original manuscript and published ‘The Never Ending Quest‘, they also continued their consultancy, training and empirical studies. Meanwhile Don Beck had teamed up with Ken Wilber, a philosipher/psychologist who had used Spiral Dynamics as part of his AQAL theory. Beck and Wilber together renamed the theory ‘Spiral Dymanics Integral’ and this is also used in consultancy and training.

There are differences between Graves original E-C theory, the early Cowan and Beck Spiral Dynamics, the Cowan and Todorovic Spiral Dynamics and the Beck and Wilber Spiral Dynamics Integral. I originally encountered this body of work while reading Wilbers ‘Theory of Everything’ and his other books. However, on reading some criticisms of Wilbers work, which I agreed with, I no longer ascribe to the Spiral Dynamics Integral model (I will go into detail about this in a later post). I later read the original Spiral Dynamics Book and The Never ending Quest, which I then followed up by attending the SD1 and SD2 training with Cowan and Todorovic. I now lean quite strongly towards the Cowan and Todorovic camp, but I do have my criticisms of their work as well. I will explore my criticisms and my own stance in more depth once I have finished fleshing out the main theory as it will make more sense then. I prefer to use the term E-C theory rather than Spiral Dynamics, which is the term used throughout The Never Ending Quest. Another name that is sometimes used is ECLET. Most articles on the web use the term Spiral Dynamics and few people would know what I am talking about if I never mentioned it so I sprinkle the term around here and there and always use it when specifically talking about work done after Graves.

(The source for this information is from the Never Ending Quest, the original Spiral Dynamics book, the SD1 and SD2 courses and the the three main websites to do with Spiral Dynamics: www.spiraldynamics.org, www.spiraldynamics.net and www.clarewgraves.com. This wikipedia article is also pretty good. )

I have just returned from a training course as part of becoming certified for SD1 & SD2. I’ve been interested in Spiral Dynamics for around five years and have finally decided to take the plunge. I’m glad I did, I picked up a lot of nuances that I hadn’t from the books. There were case studies and updates on the theory due to studies that have been made since the Spiral Dynamics book was published. In particular they gave some good examples of how easy it can be to mistake one vMeme system from another. It would have been nice to have even more examples to take away from the course in a puzzle book format to get more practice in identifying these differences when the content is different from the container. The course had about 25 people on it and the conversation was stimulating, I’m normally quite introverted but I was very chatty on this course.

The course was very thought provoking and has given me lots of ideas for topics on this blog, but before I explore them I expect I have already lost the average reader who has just stumbled here, so to start with I am planning to write a brief introduction to Spiral Dynamics, as I understand it.

In the meantime, if you want to read more then read this overview on Spiral Dynamics (pdf file) .