Don Beck: Spiral Dynamics Lecture

Friday, August 27, 2010, 6:15 to 7:00 pm (Intro), and 7:00 to 9:30 pm (Lecture)

Northbrae Community Church

941 The Alameda, Berkeley

All of the systems we have come to rely on seem to be at a ‘tipping point.’  Seemingly all of our institutions are in turmoil whether it be politics, the economy, the job market, education, or health care, nothing seems to be working as it “should.”  As Dr. Beck has stated, conditions have not been like this since the time of the Civil War.

Join with Dr. Beck on Friday, August 27, as he will be discussing will be speaking in-depth on Current Life Conditions, Polarization and Meshworking.

For those who are unfamiliar with Spiral Dynamics or would like a refresher there will be a short 45 minute presentation on the basics of SDi starting at 6:15 followed by Dr. Beck’s presentation at 7:00.

Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi) is a remarkable body of work attracting a growing   constellation of thousands of people around the world. It concerns itself with the deep complexity codes that shape our many worlds.

Conceived and led by Dr. Don Beck, a leading global authority on value systems, societal change, and stratified democracy, SDi is an advanced extension and elaboration of the biopsychosocial systems concept originated by the late Dr. Clare W. Graves of Union College, New York, and later developed as Spiral Dynamics - a model that Canada’s Maclean’s Magazine rather grandly dubbed  “The Theory that Explains Everything.”  Well, almost …

The model describes and makes sense of the enormous complexity of human existence, and then shows how to craft elegant, systemic problem – solutions that meet people and address situations where they are.

Spiral DynamicsTM reveals the hidden complexity codes that shape human nature, create global diversities, and drive evolutionary change. These dynamic Spiral forces attract and repel individuals, form the webs and meshes that connect people within groups, communities and organizations, and forge the rise and fall of nations and cultures.

Spiral Dynamics meshes the new science of memetics with Gravesian value systems to form “value memes” or “vMemes” to craft a model of transformational change. By exploring and describing the core intelligences and deep values that flow beneath what we believe and do, the model offers a profoundly incisive, dynamic perspective on complex matters such as:

·       HOW people think about things (as opposed to “what” they think)

·       WHY people make decisions in different ways

·       WHY people respond to different motivators

·       WHY and HOW values arise and spread

·       The nature of CHANGE

This powerful conceptual system has been field-tested in some of the most complex environments on the planet, from inner-city Chicago to racially plagued South Africa. Since the focus is on the deeper vMemetic foundations, Spiral Dynamics suggests ways to move more quickly in the direction of deep dialogue and comprehensive, integral solutions.

MICRO applications of Spiral Dynamics are found around the world in a variety of developmental, counseling and coaching projects. For example, leaders in a growing number of local, national and international youth development projects are currently using Spiral Dynamics Integral concepts.

MESO applications of Spiral Dynamics look through a wider lens between and among groups of people in large corporations, within local communities, and even as distinctive cultures in city-states and entire countries. As our world is now moving into the next stage of cultural pluralism and diversity programs, Spiral Dynamics offers a point of view that looks at the evolutionary dynamic of the deep underlying values systems.

MACRO applications of Spiral Dynamics re-examine the whole globalization issue through an entirely new lens. The focus is on the underlying vMeme currents and contours of the diverse, competing economic, political, health care, education, religious, and community-based models.

Spiral Dynamics connects everything to everything else. For example: The work shows clearly why attempts to deal with the HIV pandemic only through medical solutions fail dismally unless equal time and resources are spent on the interior, cultural Dynamics that contribute to the spread of the virus. It also demonstrates why simplistic, fragmented approaches to international and domestic terrorism, crime and drug-related problems, education, economic and social development – the list is endless – and the complexity of challenges in the Middle East and other hot spots around the globe will continue to confound us unless we integrate, align and synergize the efforts of all these stakeholders.

Dr. Don Beck is the co-author of Spiral Dynamics: mastering values, leadership & change and, The Crucible: Forging South Africa’s future. He travels widely, lecturing and inspiring initiatives all over the world. He made more than 63 consulting trips to South Africa between 1981 and 1988 and documented his role in the peaceful abolishment of Apartheid.  He has consulted with companies such as Southwest Airlines, Conoco, and Dunn Edwards paint company. He is the founder of the Spiral Dynamics Group, the Centers for Human Emergence, and the Global Values Network.