Spiral Dynamics Questionnare

[Wyatt]

I'm in the midst of hiring employees for my business, and want to quickly guage the level of development of the applicants during the in-person interview (or more ideally over the phone). Are there questions that help determines their stage on the spiral? Has anyone found specific questionnaires?

[Natasha]

@Wyatt If you don't find a good set of questions, I would develop my own set to help gauge their level of development.

 Do you want them to have a good meditation habit? Then a question like 'What is your morning/evening routine like?' would be a good one. If they say, 'Coffee, rushing with kids, stopping by McDonald's to grab fast food', etc would be very telling about their level of unconsciousness. 

If they say, for example, "I start out my morning with breathing exercises/20 mins of meditation/green smoothie", etc, you'd know their focus from the beginning of the day will be good,and sharp. 

Do you want them to be mindful? Ask questions that would give them a chance to point at their level of mindfulness or a lack of it thereof.

These questions can be indirect (like the morning routine one) or direct, like 'What is your opinion on recycling?' for example.

But of course, not knowing the type of business you have, it would be hard to give you more question suggestions. But these are just some ideas for you.

[Dan502]

You could try asking about their values and beliefs.

Having said that, a person's work history can say a lot, if it's disclosed in full.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Dan502

[bmcnicho]

SAAFE by TJ Reeves is a comprehensive spiral dynamics assessment.  I don't endorse his other work and talking about him is technically banned on this forum, but this particular assessment is too high quality not to mention.

[Eric H]

1. Assume orange.

Most people you'll be hiring will be orange, statistically speaking. And that's actually probably what you want, depending on the kind of business you're running. If your clients are orange and you're selling an orange product or service, your business is probably going to be more successful if you hire orange people. What's your vision for your business? What kind of product are you selling? Lower consciousness stages aren't bad - chances are you want orange people, but it depends on what your business looks like.

Don Beck estimates that only 10% of the world population is at green. University professors, liberal pundits... these people are more likely to be green. As a shitty rule of thumb, green people are generally older and well educated. I doubt these kind of people are looking for jobs at small startups with people they don't know.

2. blue/orange/green discriminative questions.

Possible questions:

- What is important for you right now in this stage of your life?

- What do you think is important for psychological health?

Basically use the word "important". This is code for "what do you value?".

Or ask them what they need (more personal, you'll need to build something of a relationship with them before asking them this):

- If you could solve one problem in your life right now, what would that be?

- What is your dream or biggest goal for yourself right now?

Pure blue - What's important is sacrificing myself for the Truth, the One Path, My Ideology. I need to serve more deeply.

BLUE/orange - What's important is serving this Truth/One Path/Ideology, I think, but in a free way. I'd like to serve the Cause, but more intelligently.

blue/ORANGE - What's important is rising to life,  being smart about things, being educated, doing it your own way. I'd like to taste life beyond the Cause, have more freedom. I need to try things (but not necessarily carry them to completion). I need more things - more money, more sex, more cars.

Basically, try to figure out if the person you're interviewing has a strong and rigid belief system.  - or did until recently. Ask them questions about it. If they believe in it firmly, they're pure blue. If they're starting to question it, BLUE/orange. If they're derogatory and even insulting of it, they're blue/ORANGE.

Pure ORANGE - What's important is achievement through strategic excellence. What's important is accomplishing your goals. There are many possible paths, but one is best, and we should find that one way. I need to succeed. 

ORANGE/green - What's important is teamwork, growing other people. Teaching other people is important, training other people is important. I am lonely, but I wish I wasn't, since it's a weakness. I need to control other people, but for their own benefit (educating and teaching them). I need to be spend more time with my friends. (This is where I put myself)

orange/GREEN - What's important is teamwork, sharing with other people. I want to build a business or start a project with my friends. We need to cooperate with our friends. Meaningful conversation and connection is important.   

The motif for green is other people. Try to figure out what role other people - friends - play in their life. Are they pushed to the side? Are they feeling lonely? 

 

3. It's not what they say, it's what they embody

If you're starting your own business, you probably have sales experience, so you know that you'll get your answer more from what qualities the interviewee is embodying than the actual words they say. Just because we all know that tier 2 exists, we could probably fool a spiral dynamics questionnaire just by using yellow and turquoise language. So notice how they react, how mindful they are, when they lie to you, what they're defensive about, etc.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Eric H

[SFRL]

Gut feeling