Spiral Dynamics Bachelor Thesis

[Daniel007]

Hei there. 

my Bachelor Thesis will be about spiral dynamics and the application of this model. For individuals as well as on an organizational level.

 

The theory behind my Thesis is already well thought of. I want to write about topics like: 

Constructivism, Brain and Cognition, Identity, Neuroplasticity, Unconscious, Socialization processes, Values and Norms, Cultural Misunderstanding, Organization Values, VUCA-World. (These should be the background information to get the model right.)

Now i want to write about Spiral Dynamics. Explain it and go for the application. (Especially in Organization should be interesting) If you know the book: Reinventing Organizations

My research question could be sth like: What's the application of this model for Individuals, Groups, or Organizations.

Or: Does the environment force Organizations to change their values (cultural change) in order to stay economically. 

Or: How does an organization look like, if they apply the ideas of Spiral Dynamics.

Do you maybe have some more ideas about a research question?

I´m also thinking about doing an empirical study. But it's kind of hard with this kind of topic.  

 

I thought of something like evaluate the V/Meme- Profile of some employees and compare them with the prevailing culture of the organizations. So i can see where conflicts can happen and in which areas we have motivated and in which demotivated employee.

 

Another interesting point to evaluate could be a correlation between a V/Meme- Profile and health behavior or environmental awareness.

Some more interesting correlations could be salutogenesis, sense of coherence, self-reflection, employee satisfaction,

 

The problem is that I haven´t found a reliable questionnaire I can evaluate.

To research on a qualitative level, I could do some interviews to see if people are happy with their work. I would love to have a statement in the end of my work like: Organizations have to change. (More of green and yellow)

 

what are your thoughts on this?

Maybe you can help me  

Thanks and a great day.

[supremeyingyang]

I would Challenge you to post an Exposé, so you have to think about what you want to explore in Detail;)

The Topic is hot.

[Forestluv]

On 10/2/2020 at 8:43 AM, Daniel007 said:

My research question could be sth like: What's the application of this model for Individuals, Groups, or Organizations.

Or: Does the environment force Organizations to change their values (cultural change) in order to stay economically. 

Or: How does an organization look like, if they apply the ideas of Spiral Dynamics.

Those are all open-ended exploratory questions. There is a vast amount of exploratory space in each of those questions and can be like opening a can of worms. There is not target. That type of curiosity and open exploration is great, yet I would also balance that with practicality and a target. For example:

”How does an organization look like, if they apply the ideas of Spiral Dynamics.”

There are many ways that an organization could apply the ideas of SD. As well, this is theoretical imagination. How many organizations are consciously and strategically applying the SD ideas - to the point that they have SD discussions in committee meetings? I’d say very few. How many organizations are unconsciously applying the ideas? They are doing so, without being aware it is within SD theory. There are probably some organizations that have some Tier2 leadership trying to integrate Tier 1 components, yet aren’t aware of SD theory. Here you might consider an analysis of case studies of a few organizations with different SD dynamics. For example, organization “A” incorporates aspects of blue, orange and green. Organization “B” is hyper orange. 

What comes to mind for me is if you want to enter a space in which you are imagining and theorizing what an organization could be like under a particular SD structure or analyze actual organizations. This could also be combined. You could come up with a hypothesis that an Orange-centered organization would look like ‘X’ and have ‘Y’ issues and then test the hypothesis by investigating an Orange-centered organization. 

 

[Matt23]

You might want to check this out.  Jamie Wheal worked with Ken Wilber and Integral in regards to transforming organizations.  He's got some interesting critiques and seems to have solid first-hand experiences with using SD (or AQAL) in organizations.

 

[Daniel007]

Thank you so much  

You are a great help. I will think about my Expose and post it when I´m finished. 

Another research question came to my mind. What influence do values have on individuals, organizations, and on the way of doing business?  

You are always welcome for more input

Have a great day 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Daniel007

[UDT]

@Daniel007 Take the first question statement.

 

Write down a list of which values are orange/greens/yellow etc. 

and then look for questions to indirectly get answers about the person's values. Don't just ask "what do you value more, the trees or wallstreet?" 

Then you can either do qualitative interviews, and evaulating peoples stance on the spiral, or you design a questionnaire.

Easy peasy, it's just a good amount of work!

 

Have fun!

[Daniel007]

On 4.10.2020 at 0:12 PM, Daniel007 said:

Thank you so much  

You are a great help. I will think about my Expose and post it when I´m finished. 

You are always welcome for more input

Have a great day 

Okay here is my idea:

Titel could be sth like: "Changing values - What influence do values have on individuals, organizations and the way of doing business.

With this title, I would say I can elaborate on the background information better. ( better than Spiral Dynamic in the title ?) 

1. Constructivism,

2. Brain and Cognition,

2.1. Identity,

2.2. Neuroplasticity,

2.3. Unconscious mind, 

3. Socialization processes,

4. Values and Norms,

5. Cultural Misunderstanding,

6. Organization Values,

7. VUCA-World

8. Spiral Dynamics 

8.1 Implication

8.2 SD in Organizations 

I can choose between pure literature work (40 pages) or empirical work (40 -60 pages). I´m not quite sure which one I choose. 

With this work, I thought about elaborating following questions: 

What's the application of this model for Individuals, Groups, or Organizations?

Does the environment force Organizations to change their values (cultural change) in order to stay economically? or. Is thinking changing and with it the way of doing business?

How does an organization look like, if they apply the ideas of Spiral Dynamics? (Example of yellow structures and processes)

 

When doing empirical work I would do qualitative interviews. Probably I will explore the connection of SD with business development + self-reflection.

I would love to see if there are some Correlations between the stages of the spiral and the skill for self-reflection.

I thought about doing interviews to get more detailed information. First, the Personal Value Profile is being collected from the interviewers.

In order to also illustrate business development, I thought about interviewing mainly younger people (e.g. Generation Y). This way I can find out which value systems predominate among Generation Y and also ask them about topics such as "work, job satisfaction, work climate, performance motivation, new work". So I can find out how this generation works or wants to work. Now I can compare this with the predominant V/meme of today's working world (From the literature). This allows me to make statements or assumptions about whether organizations, as they are common today, need to change. (In order to be in line with the value systems of the growing workforce). This would fit very well with the following research questions: Does the environment force organizations to change their culture in order to remain profitable? or does it change the way of thinking and thus the way of doing business?

 

In order to show the contrast to the current working world, it might also be helpful to interview a person who has been in the working world for a longer time and acts on an orange value system. Hopefully, I can work out the problems of the orange v/memes and show the necessity of a cultural change. I hope you can follow me

 

Looking forward to hearing your ideas. 

Thanks for your time. I appreciate it so much.

Greetings from Germany. 

 

 

 

[b_woo]

Hello @Daniel007, how did you get on with your thesis?