Spiral Dynamics is a model illustrating the psychological development of human nature through varying levels of values and beliefs, referred to as vmemes, which influence thinking, decision-making, and responses to motivational stimuli. Developed from the work of Clare W. Graves, it emphasizes that human nature is adaptable, evolving in complexity as individuals encounter life experiences. The model comprises two tiers of vmemes, with the first tier characterized by antagonistic systems, and the second tier by more integrative and holistic perspectives, ultimately aiming for personal and collective psychological growth.

1. Spiral Dynamics.

2. Spiral Dynamics is a model that describes and explains
the hidden complexity codes that shape human nature,
create global diversities and drive evolutionary change.
It offers an explanation of:
• How people think about things
• Why people make decisions in different ways
• Why people respond to different motivational stimuli
• Why and how values arise and spread
• The ever changing purpose of life

3. Here, today we are just introducing Spiral
Dynamics, and the different levels which are
also known vMemes.
Aspiring Spiral Wizards, Change Agents, Coaches, Psychologist
should really consider looking deeper into Spiral Dynamics and
it’s mastery.

4. Spiral Dynamics is based on the original work of Clare W. Graves, who taught
psychology for a number of years and was quite upset in teaching psychology
for good reasons. Dr. Clare would teach on each of the theories from Freud to
Watson/Skinner behaviorism to humanistic approach of Abraham Maslow and
Carl Rogers and at the end of the course his students would ask,
“Dr. Graves, which theory is right?”
From that, began a research activity followed by a life time of study trying to
figure out why people think in different ways about virtually everything from
the purpose of life, to truths, attitudes on sex, family, law, religion…..the list
goes on.
From that what he discovered, Spiral Dynamics was born. It’s not about right
or wrong. It’s about different thinking systems and the evolution of thinking
systems.

5. As one passes through life, influenced by direct or indirect
personal development, (often spurred by tragedy, fulfillment,
life changing events), ones mind develops in a rough uniform
order which can be seen, analyzed and measured.
A large part of Spiral Dynamics is the representation of the
psychological development.
The widely known Maslow Hierarchy of Human Needs, can be
seen as just a part of the larger picture which is Spiral
Dynamics.

6. Original works from Dr. Clare W Graves,
Researched by Slava Kozlov,
Presented here by Adrian Cahill

7. Spiral Dynamics
Spiral Dynamics is both a theory and a practical
framework.
According to Spiral Dynamics, human nature is not
fixed: humans are able to adapt to their environments
by constructing new, more complex, conceptual models
of the world, that allow them to handle the new
problems more efficiently.
The term vMeme refers to a core value system of any
given stage. The vMeme acts as an organizing set of
principles/values that change through steps of
psyhological development. The vMeme are represented
through the levels or colours. These different vMeme
can be noticed on individuals, groups, teams,
companies even countries.

8. vMemes: 1st and 2nd Tiers
Beige Purple Red Blue Orange Green Yellow Turquoise
1st Tier vMemes
(antagonistic)
2nd Tier vMemes
(integral)
At this point there is the largest change.
The vMemes are color-coded. In this diagram evolution goes from
left to right. From beige to turquoise.
Psychological Evolution follows steps. As a new vMeme or set of
beliefs start to form, it is in conflict with its predecessor.
Once past green, the new emerging ‘integral’ vMemes behave
differently. Past green, vMemes encompass or are able to reflect
all of the previous vMemes into a more holistic system.
Each vMeme will be explained further.

9. Key Notes:
• vMemes represent a concept or group of core
principals.
• Like a rainbow, the vMemes merge with the
previous and next level.
Eg. An Orange culture or individual may feature
elements of blue, and green.

10. Beige
• Instinctive / Survivialistic vMeme
- When a baby is born. Life is all about
survival.
- Uses instincts and habits to survive.
- Distinct self is barely awaked or sustained.
- Food, water, warmth, sex and safety have priority.
- Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life.
- Lives ‘off the land’ much like other animals.
Basic Theme:
Do what you must
just to stay alive

11. Beige Minds
Looking around for resources
Doing nearly all activities together
Close family relationships
Food, water, warmth, sex and safety have priority

12. Beige Bodies
Protection of the naked body
Strong, robust – but suffering - bodies
Supporting each other
Uses instincts and habits just to survive

13. Beige Souls
Simple joys among many fears
Tokens and amulets
Collective story-telling
Distinct self is barely awaked or sustained

14. Beige Spaces
Living in the spaces, not in places
No borders yet, placements are opportunistic
Protective constructions
Lives ‘off the land’ much as other animals

15. Beige atmosphere
Forms into survival bands to perpetuate life
Warmth of fire in the night
Tribal dances
Rituals of a wise shaman

16. Beige Symbol

17. Purple
• Magical/Animistic vMeme
- The baby starts to grow into a child. The world is a
magical place.
- Obey the desires of the spirits and gods.
- Show allegiance to the chief, elders, ancestors.
- Individual subsumed in a group.
- Preserve sacred objects, places, events, memories.
- Observe rites of passage, seasonal cycles, customs.
Basic Theme:
Keep the spirit happy,
and the settlement
warm, safe and in order

18. Purple Minds
Higher forces and powers, gods and pharaohs
Strict and unchanging social order
The world is known, described, prescribed
Obey the desires of the spirit

19. Purple Bodies
Show allegiance to the chief, elders, ancestors
Subordinated and serving
Obeying orders and rules
Manifesting stratification

20. Purple Souls
Worshipping, revering and devoting your life
Coding and decoding symbolic meanings
Working towards enlightenment and nirvana
Preserve sacred objects, places, evens, memories

21. Purple Spaces
Observe rites of passage, seasonal cycles, customs
Erecting walls and fences
Dividing and separating
Guarding access

22. Purple atmosphere
Individual subsumed in group
Mystical light and silence
Uplifting and elevating
Harmonious and uniting

23. Purple Symbol

24. Red
• Impulsive/Egocentric vMeme
- Ego has formed. Empires are formed. Boundaries are
pushed. Countries are conquered.
- The world is a jungle full of threats and predators.
- Break free from any domination or constraint.
- Stand tall, demand respect, and call the shot.
- Enjoys self to the fullest right now without any guilt.
- Conquer, out-smart, dominate others.
Basic Theme:
Be what you are
and do what you want,
regardless

25. Red Minds
Break free from any domination or constraint
Fight and conquer
Dominate and suppress
Fear (and be feared)

26. Red Bodies
Expand and transgress
Armour your body and threaten your enemy
Fight, kill, die
Stand tall, demand respect, and call the shot

27. Red Souls
Enjoys self to the fullest right now without any guilt
Ranks and positions
Executing unlimited will
Honour: gaining, manifesting, defending

28. Red Spaces
Conquer, out-smart, dominate others
Dominate, threaten, protect
Barriers, obstacles, trenches, barricades
Locks, bars, latches

29. Red atmosphere
Demonstrate your power and might
Loud, shining, grand performances
Humiliate and execute enemies
The world is a jungle full of threats and predators

30. Red Symbol

31. Blue
• Purposeful/Authoritarian vMeme
- One sacrifices self to the transcendent Cause, Truth
or righteous Pathway.
- The Order enforces Code of Conduct based on
eternal, absolute principles.
- Righteous living produces stability now –
and guarantees future reward.
- Laws, regulations and discipline build moral fibre. These
also aid in the protection of conquered lands.
- Where Red controlled through might, blue is more
developed and controls though guilt, law, righteousness,
structure.
Basic Theme:
Life has meaning,
direction and purpose
with predetermined
outcome

32. Blue Mind
Discover transcendent Cause and Truth
Explore, probe, discover
Hypothesize, question, inquire
Formulate the true Laws of Nature

33. Blue Bodies
Laws, regulations and discipline build moral fibre
Dissecting bodies, revealing inner organs
Understand – and improve – body functioning
Design and build life through knowledge

34. Blue Souls
Enforces Code of Conduct based on eternal, absolute principles
Write down your knowledge,
read the knowledge of others
Imagine and innovate
Deconstruct the world around you

35. Blue Spaces
Impulsivity is controlled through discipline/guilt
Construct rational knowledge spaces
Functionality regulates design
Technological sophistication
(often for the sake of technological sophistication)

36. Blue (Artificial) Spaces
Constructing artificial places and spaces
Expanding the scope of habitat prescribed for humans
Building new worlds

37. Blue atmosphere
Righteous living produces stability now –
and guarantees future reward
Well designed and perfectly functioning spaces
Complex, sophisticated performances
Technology saturated environments

38. Blue Symbol

39. Orange
• Achieist/Strategic vMeme
- Change and advancement are inherent within
the scheme of things.
- Progress by learning nature’s secrets and seeking
the best solutions.
- Manipulate Earth’s resources to create and spread abundant
good life.
- Entreprenuers. Privatization of blue’s assets.
- Optimistic, risk-taking, self-reliant people deserve success
- Societies prosper through strategy, technology,
and competition. Orange finds opportunities in or around
blue’s order to expand/conquer.
Basic Theme:
Act in your own
self-interests
by playing the game
to win

40. Orange Minds
Optimistic, risk-taking, self-reliant people deserve success
To be the first and the best is the key motivation
Rely on yourself, exploit everything around, win
Never give up, keep moving, just do it

41. Orange Bodies
Change and advancement are inherent
Everybody should be famous – at least for 15 min
Beautify and expose your body
Body as yet another device to drive you to success

42. Orange Souls
Materials wealth – gained by whatever means –
is the criterion of success
The only place worth being at is the top one
The more the better
Prosper through strategy, technology and competition

43. Orange Spaces
Manipulate Earth’s resources to create and spread abundant good life
Greed is good
The shinier the better
Shopping bag is my space

44. Orange atmosphere
Radiating wealth and success; seven stars
Abundance of choices
Exclusive and elitist
Progress by learning nature’s secrets
and seeking the best solutions

45. Orange Symbol
1

46. Green
• Communitarian/Egalitarian vMeme
- The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma
and divisiveness of the previous levels. Particularly of the
orange and red vMemes.
- Feeling, sensitivity and caring supersede cold rationality.
- Spread the Earth’s resources and opportunities among all.
- Reaches decisions through consensus and reconciliation. Group
consensus, equal rights,
- Endorses spirituality, seeks harmony, enriches human
development.
Basic Theme:
Seek peace within
the inner self,
and explore, with others,
caring dimensions
of community

47. Green Minds
The human spirit must be freed from greed, dogma and divisiveness
Communal practice and activities
Inner peace and search for harmonious balance
Golden rule of ethics applies

48. Green Bodies
Feeling, sensitivity and caring supersede cold rationality
Caring about your own health, both physical and mental
Caring about people around you
Caring about the Planet

49. Green Souls
All-connecting spiritual search
Harmonious living for all human beings
(and preferable for all living creatures)
Embracing tolerance, encouraging diversity
Endorses spirituality, seeks harmony, enriches human development

50. Green Spaces
Spread the Earth’s resources and opportunities among all
The Planet is our Home, let’s care about it
Eco-friendly and eco-responsible spaces
Nature-resembling design and functionalities

51. Green atmosphere
Reaches decisions through consensus and reconciliation
Being close to nature, embedded into it
Embracing sustainable lifestyle
Shaming all non-green

52. Green Symbol

53. Reading Matrix by vMeme
Mind
Body
Soul
Space
Atmosphere

54. From 1st to 2nd Tier vMemes
1st vMemes
(antagonistic)
2nd Tier vMemes
(integral)
“What I am proposing is that the psychology
of the mature human being is an unfolding,
emergent, oscillating, spiralling process,
marked by progressive subordination of older lower-ordered
systems to newer, higher-ordered systems”.
- Clare Graves
‘warm’
‘cold’

55. From 1st Tier to 2nd Tier there is a shift in worldviews: From one to
many truths
One
Truth
many
truths
I
We

56. Yellow
• Integrative vMeme
- Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies,
systems and forms. Expand or conquer responsibly.
- The magnificence of existence is valued via
material possessions and immaterial experiences.
- Values like flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality
have the highest priority.
- Differences can be integrated into
interdependent natural flows.
- Understand that chaos and changes are natural.
Basic Theme:
Live fully and responsibly
as what you are
and learn to become

57. Yellow Minds
Life is a kaleidoscope of natural hierarchies, systems and forms
Joyfully coping with uncertainties and ambiguities
Operating in turbulent, complex and chaotic mediums
Developing new mental capabilities

58. Yellow Bodies
Multiplicity of identities, multiplicity of bodies
From avatars to cyborgs
Enhancing life experiences with diverse technologies
The magnificence of existence is valued via material possessions and immaterial experiences

59. Yellow Souls
Flexibility, spontaneity, and functionality have the highest priority
Surfing through life using abundant opportunities
Mixing & Meshing multiple streams of meaning
Paving unique personal trajectories

60. Yellow Spaces
Understand that chaos and changes are natural
Flexible and dynamic environments
Smart and interactive spaces
Personalized spatial arrangements

61. Yellow atmosphere
Differences can be integrated into interdependent natural flows
Interactive, playful, stimulating, multisensorial
Co-authoring and involving
Emerging and non-predictable

62. Yellow Sign

63. Turquoise
• Holistic vMeme
- The world is a single, dynamic organism
with its own collective mind.
- Self is both distinct and blended part of a larger,
compassionate whole.
- Everything connects to everything in ecological alignments.
- Energy and information permeate the Earth's total
environment.
- Holistic, intuitive thinking and cooperative actions prevail.
Basic Theme:
Experience
the wholeness
of existence
through body,
mind and spirit

64. Turquoise Minds
Holistic, intuitive thinking and cooperative actions prevail
Collective intelligence
Open source practices
Wiki-consciousness

65. Turquoise Bodies
Self is both distinct and blended part of a larger, compassionate whole
Swarming, distributed bodies
Eco-somatic awareness and self-regulation
Transformative practices

66. Turquoise Souls
Everything connects to everything in ecological alignments
Let’s make the universe better
Transformation through empowered passion
Holistic, integral thinking

67. Turquoise Spaces
Networked and interconnected
Systemic interactions
Evolving, emerging, generative
The world is a single, dynamic organism with its own collective mind

68. Turquoise atmosphere
Global collective actions
Collaborative art
Co-creative encounters
Energy and information permeate the Earth's total environment

69. Turquoise Symbol
Rhizome allows for multiple, non-hierarchical
entry and exit points,
trans-connections and interactions,
networked hyper-structures
without vertical domination.

70. Reading Matrix by vMeme
Mind
Body
Soul
Space
Atmosphere

71. Where to from here?
1. Identification: Being able to Identify
features of vMemes in self, others,
culture, communities.

72. 2. Spiral Wizardry: Able to support the
psychological growth in self and others to evolve when
& if necessary.
Many Change Agents, Coaches, Psychologist, Consultants, Trainers assist in
the psychological development of people and organisations. Ideally these
people will have a concious or unconcious understanding of the levels. You
may certainly gain more effective systems and a much deeper
understanding of human nature by studying Spiral Dynamics further.

73. As much as I would love to claim credit for this I can’t. I only put half of this together of other
incomplete slideshows. I feel for those interested in Personal Development, you should certainly
spend a few hours or months looking further into this Spiral Dynamics Theory. I’ve used it a lot in all
my direct and indirect coaching.
Adrian Cahill, M.NLP and ICF Coach.