We have been working with Spiral Dynamics® for more than twenty years. Both founders of The Beyond Partnership have trained personally with Chris Cowan and Don Beck. For many years, between 2003 and Chris’s untimely death in 2015, we hosted his certification trainings in the UK which he led with his partner Natasha Todorovic.
We are also certified with ValueMatch who are associated with Don Beck. They have created a rich and thorough suite of Spiral Dynamics Assessments for individuals and groups, including values profiles, culture profiles, and change assessment profiles.
We combine perspectives from these sources with our own experience when delivering in-house and public workshops, plus coaching and consultancy with individuals, teams and organisations.
The approach of Spiral Dynamics® presents a unique and exciting developmental framework for understanding and addressing the complex challenges of the modern world. The theoretical base, models and materials provide profound systemic insight into individuals, team, organisations and human cultures – why they do what they do – what is the nature and direction of their next step – what is the best way to influence and lead this person or these people at a particular time.
Spiral Dynamics maps out the spectrum and evolution of value systems and thinking patterns found in individuals and human groupings today. It shows us how people have developed diverse worldviews and the processes through which these emerge and evolve. It provides a compass and models for understanding how we develop and change.
Human motivation is driven by our values and beneath that our ‘valuing systems’, a deeper framework of influence. Much of this is such an everyday experience for us that it is generally outside our consciousness, in the same way as we don’t think about how we walk, or as Marshall McLuhan said, “I don’t know who discovered water but I’m sure it wasn’t a fish”.
The Spiral Dynamics view is therefore concerned with WHY we do what we do and HOW we decide, not with WHAT we do. In this it draws deeply on the original and extensive research of Clare Graves and his resultant theory of adult bio-psycho-social systems development – a bit of a mouthful but it actually speaks to the breadth of its coverage, applications and implications.
With Spiral Dynamics training we learn how to best work with these differing worldviews and how to build better relationships and influence. We build an understanding and appreciation of the interplay and impact of life conditions (culture) and valuing/thinking systems.
Organisations in the private, public and third sectors appreciate this work for
Participants on Spiral Dynamics trainings include directors, senior and middle managers from all three organisational sectors, plus business owners, teachers, health workers, the police, management consultants, coaches, marketing and branding professionals, sales, change agents and policy makers.
