Description of Challenge
In the 1950s, Clare Graves of Union College, New York was asked by his students which of the many theories about human behaviour was actually true. This challenge inspired him to conduct years of empirical research from 1952-74 into how individuals, groups and societies actually behave.When one form of existence ceases to be functional for the realities of existence, then some other form, either higher or lower in the hierarchy, is the better style of living. (Dr Clare Graves)
Solution
From his research, Dr Graves formulated a model of human development which was then developed by Don Beck, Christopher Cowan and others into Spiral Dynamics. Graves classified a total of eight levels of increasingly complex human value systems consisting of a hierarchically ordered, always-open-to-change set of identifiable worldviews, preferences, and purposes. Individuals, groups and even nation states move up and down the spiral in response to changes in life conditions and their evolutionary drive. Working with this model can be very helpful in gaining a better understanding of ourselves, the groups we are in, sources of tension and conflict, and how to resolve them.
