Spiral Dynamics vs. Maslow's Pyramid vs. Success

[Privet]

I see many people do that mistake of mixing those things together and not getting the real relationships of them one to another.

Spiral dynamics: evolution of your values.

Success: sign of effectiveness in some endeavor.

Maslow's pyramid: hierarchy of needs.

People commonly think that success is how you overgrow spiral dynamics stage orange.

People commonly think that progress through spiral dynamics stages is how you satisfy your needs according to Maslow's hierarchy.

Both assumptions are incorrect.

Here is how success looks in different stages of SD (very stereotypical):

• Red - a drug cartel lord
• Blue - a communist party secretary
• Orange - a CEO
• Green - a Green Peace CEO
• Yellow - a sage
• Turquoise - a spiritual leader

The progress through stages comes from your insights about what different things mean for your well-being. From exhausting previous worldview. From realizing that the previous set of values won't make you satisfied.

Here are very stereotypical examples of the transition:

• You turn from red to blue when you realize that stealing and robbing is not necessary and ineffective
• You turn from blue to orange when you realize that too much discipline is not necessary and ineffective
• You turn from orange to green when you realize that more material success is not necessary and ineffective
• You turn from green to yellow when you realize that more love and compassion is not necessary and ineffective
• You turn from yellow to turquoise when you realize that the mind and thought is not necessary and ineffective

Here's how Maslow's hierarchy relates to spiral dynamics: as you progress through stages your top value becomes the next thing in the Maslow's pyramid, and in a sense your pyramid is limited in height by this need that is the top value in your SD stage. But! It doesn't mean that you transcend spiral dynamics stages by SATISFYING this need, you transcend it by REALIZING what that need really means to you. You can become interested in self-actualization (one of the top needs in the pyramid) BEFORE you have achieved material success.

The integration of each stage in my opinion comes about the level to which you overgrow the previous stage' worldview. For example, a corrupted blue is the one who hasn't fully overgrown stage red. A preaching green is the one who hasn't fully overgrown stage blue.

It seems that this is how shadow works: what shadow is is the hidden amount of previous stages that you haven't overgrown and that relates to your relationships with people. Imagine a one who is overreactive/control freak/very anxious - he just haven't overgrown and exhausted the safety need fully when he was young and didn't feel safe with his parents, meaning it's a hidden amount of beige/purple in his psyche.

Again, SATISFYING needs has nothing to do with progress on spiral dynamics, REALIZING what your new top need is - does.

This is indeed oversimplification of all the theories. But to me it seems as a very convenient connection of those to PERSONAL development, since spiral dynamics is mostly a study about masses.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Privet

[Spiral]

These “stereotypical examples of the transitions” are very orange.

Looking at things in terms of what is effective or not is as orange is it’s gets alongside individual freedoms. 

[Privet]

49 minutes ago, Spiral said:

These “stereotypical examples of the transitions” are very orange.

Looking at things in terms of what is effective or not is as orange is it’s gets alongside individual freedoms. 

"Psychedelics is an effective way of curing depression". How is that statement orange?

How would you make it yellow?

Or "vacuum cleaner is an effective tool for cleaning your carpet". What does that have to do with the SD stage?

This is just another perfect example of applying spiral dynamics in the wrong place. Can't wait when this forum will recover from this spiral plague. People try to describe by this theory everything.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Privet