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Spiral Dynamics

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Spiral Dynamics is a model of developmental psychology and human development that posits a discrete and linear series of "stages of development" that individuals, organizations, and societies progress through, within dynamic and non-linear processes.[1] It lacks mainstream academic validity or support, although it has been applied in management consulting and some academic literature.

It was initially developed by psychologist Don Edward Beck and communications lecturer Christopher Cowan based on memetic theory and the emergent cyclical theory of Clare W. Graves.[2] A later collaboration between Beck and new-age writer Ken Wilber produced Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi).[3] Several variations of spiral dynamics presently exist, with some drawing upon Wilber's pseudo-scientific integral theory.[4]

History

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In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Union College psychology professor Clare W. Graves published a series of articles which described a so-called emergent cyclical theory of developmental psychology and human development.[5][6][7]

Spiral Dynamics emerged as a result of a collaboration between University of North Texas (UNT) professor Don Beck, communications lecturer Christopher Cowan, and Graves.[8] Beck and Graves first met in person in 1975, and was joined by Cowan shortly after in developing Grave's emergent cyclical theory, working closely with Graves until his death in 1986. In 1979, Beck and Cowan founded the consulting company National Values Center, Inc. (NVC).[9] By 1981, both Beck and Cowan had resigned from UNT to work with Graves.[10][11] During the 1980s and 1990s, Beck made over 60 trips to South Africa applying Graves's emergent cyclical theory in various projects.[11] This experience, along with others Beck and Cowan had applying the theory in North America, motivated the development of spiral dynamics.[12][13]

Beck and Cowan first published their original extension of Graves's theory in the 1996 book Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change (Exploring the New Science of Memetics).[3] At around the same time, new-age author Ken Wilber published Sex, Ecology, Spirituality (1995), which expounded and drew heavily upon Graves' work.[14] Beck and Cowan introduced a color-coding for the eight value systems identified by Graves, and predicted a ninth value system. Additionally, Beck and Cowan integrated ideas from the field of memetics, identifying memetic attractors for each of Graves's levels. These attractors, which they called "VMemes", are said to bind memes into cohesive packages which structure the worldviews of both individuals and societies.[3]

In 1998, Cowan and Natasha Todorovic formed their own consulting company, NVC Consulting (NVCC).[15] In the same year, Cowan filed for the service mark of "Spiral Dynamics" service mark, which was registered to NVC.[16] Beck was against the nature of Spiral Dynamics as a service mark, and by 1999, the pair had ceased collaborating, in part due to Cowan's opposition to Wilber's theory, which he regarded as overtly spiritual and unrelated to Grave's original theory.[17][18] That same year, Wilver published The Collected Works of Ken Wilber, Vol. 4: Integral Psychology, which contained the first spiral dynamics reference in literature at the time.[19]

Following the split of NVC, Cowan and Wilber began to expound upon two different conceptions of spiral dynamics. Wilber's theory increasingly incorporated elements of spirituality, religion and original concepts drawn from his integral theory.[20] In the early 2000s, Beck and Wilber launched the Integral Institute and the Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi) brand.[15] Beck also founded the Center for Human Emergence.[21][22] By 2005, however, Beck and Wilber had fallen out due to disagreements on Wilber's changes to SDi.[4] The following year, Wilber published Integral Spirituality, which incorporated chakras into SDi theory.[4][23]

In 2009, NVC was dissolved as business entity,[9] and the original SD service mark (officially registered to NVC) was canceled.[16] The next year, Cowan and Todorovic re-filed for the SD service mark and trademark, which was registered to NVCC.[24] By 2010, the three theories of spiral dynamics comprised Cowan and Todorovic's trademarked "SPIRAL DYNAMICS®", which purported to be fundamentally the same as Graves's emergent cyclical theory; Don Beck advocating SDi with a community of practice around various chapters of his Centers for Human Emergence; and Ken Wilber subordinating SDi to his similarly but-not-identically colored AQAL altitudes, with a greater focus on spirituality.[4][25]

Timeline

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Theories

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Spiral dynamics describes how value systems and worldviews emerge from the interaction of social and historical conditions and mental processes.[26] It posits a linear series of "stages of development" that individuals, organizations, and societies progress through, which emerge as a response to the local environment, social circumstances, place and time.[27][28] Under the theory, groups and cultures structure their societies around corresponding set of values, with each new value stage developed as a response to solving existing problems. Changes between states that occur incrementally are described as "first-order changes", whilst changes that emerge from a sudden breakthrough are known as "second-order changes".[29][30]

Beck and Cowan's original theory

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VMemes as described in Spiral Dynamics (1996)[31]
Color Graves code Description Attributes
First Tier
Beige A-N SurvivalSense — Instinctive
  • Automatic, reflexive
  • Centers around satisfaction
  • Driven by deep brain programs, instincts and genetics
  • Little awareness of self as a distinct being (undifferentiated)
  • Lives "off the land" much as other animals
  • Minimal impact on or control over environment
Purple B-O KinSpirits — Clannish
  • Obey desires of the mystical spirit beings
  • Show allegiance to elders, custom, clan
  • Preserve sacred places, objects, rituals
  • Bond together to endure and find safety
  • Live in an enchanted, magical village
  • Seek harmony with nature's power
Red C-P PowerGods — Egocentric
  • In a world of haves and have-nots, it's good to be a have
  • Avoid shame, defend reputation, be respected
  • Gratify impulses and sense immediately
  • Fight remorselessly and without guilt to break constraints
  • Don't worry about consequences that may not come
Blue D-Q TruthForce — Purposeful
  • Find meaning and purpose in living
  • Sacrifice self to the Way for deferred reward
  • Bring order and stability to all things
  • Control impulsivity and respond to guilt
  • Enforce principles of righteous living
  • Divine plan assigns people to their places
Orange E-R StriveDrive — Strategic
  • Strive for autonomy and independence
  • Seek out "the good life" and material abundance
  • Progress through searching out the best solutions
  • Enhance living for many through science and technology
  • Play to win and enjoy competition
  • Learning through tried-and-true experience
Green F-S HumanBond — Relativistic
  • Explore the inner beings of self and others
  • Promote a sense of community and unity
  • Share society's resources among all
  • Liberate humans from greed and dogma
  • Reach decisions through consensus
  • Refresh spirituality and bring harmony
Second Tier
Yellow G-T FlexFlow — Systemic
  • Accept the inevitability of nature's flows and forms
  • Focus on functionality, competence, flexibility, and spontaneity
  • Find natural mix of conflicting "truths" and "uncertainties"
  • Discovering personal freedom without harm to others or excesses of self-interest
  • Experience fullness of living on an Earth of such diversity in multiple dimensions
  • Demand integrative and open systems
Turquoise H-U GlobalView — Holistic
  • Blending and harmonizing a strong collective of individuals
  • Focus on the good of all living entities as integrated systems
  • Expanded use of human brain/mind tools and competencies
  • Self is part of larger, conscious, spiritual whole that also serves self
  • Global networking seen as routine
  • Acts for minimalist living so less actually is more
Coral I-V unknown unknown

Cowan and Todorovic's "Spiral Dynamics"

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In 2008, Cowan and Todorovic published an article on spiral dynamics in the peer-reviewed journal Strategy & Leadership,[32] edited and published Graves's unfinished manuscript, and generally took the position that the distinction between spiral dynamics and Graves's ECLET is primarily one of terminology. Holding this view, they opposed interpretations seen as "heterodox."[15]

Cowan and Todorovic's view of spiral dynamics stands in opposition to that of Ken Wilber. Wilber biographer Frank Visser describes Cowan as a "strong" critic of Wilber and his integral theory, particularly the concept of a "Mean Green Meme."[33] Todorovic produced a paper arguing that research refutes the existence of the "Mean Green Meme" as Beck and particularly Wilber described it.[18]

Beck's "Spiral Dynamics integral" (SDi)

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By early 2000, Beck was corresponding with Wilber about spiral dynamics and using a "4Q/8L" diagram combining Wilber's four quadrants with the eight known levels of spiral dynamics.[23][15] Beck officially announced SDi as launching on January 1, 2002, aligning Spiral Dynamics with integral theory and additionally citing the influence of John Petersen of the Arlington Institute and Ichak Adizes.[15] By 2006, Wilber had introduced a slightly different color sequence for his AQAL "altitudes", diverging from Beck's SDi and relegating it to the values line, which is one of many lines within AQAL.[23]

Later influences on SDi include the work of Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn Sherif in the fields of realistic conflict and social judgement, specifically their Assimilation Contrast Effect model[34][35] and Robber's Cave study[36]

SD/SDi and Ken Wilber's Integral Theory

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Ken Wilber briefly referenced Graves in his 1986 book Transformations of Consciousness,[37] and again in 1995's Sex, Ecology, Spirituality, which also introduced his four quadrants model.[14] However, it was not until the "Integral Psychology" section of 1999's Collected Works: Volume 4 that he integrated Gravesian theory, now in the form of spiral dynamics.[19] Beck and Wilber began discussing their ideas with each other around this time.[15]

AQAL "altitudes"

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By 2006, Wilber was using SDi only for the values line, one of many lines in his All Quadrants, All Levels/Lines (AQAL) framework.[38] In the book Integral Spirituality published that year, he introduced the concept of "altitudes" as an overall "content-free" system to correlate developmental stages across all of the theories on all of the lines integrated by AQAL.[39]

The altitudes used a set of colors that were ordered according to the rainbow, which Wilber explained was necessary to align with color energies in the tantric tradition. This left only Red, Orange, Green, and Turquoise in place, changing all of the other colors to greater or lesser degrees. Furthermore, where spiral dynamics theorizes that the 2nd tier would have six stages repeating the themes of the six stages of the 1st tier, in the altitude system the 2nd tier contains only two levels (corresponding to the first two SD 2nd tier levels) followed by a 3rd tier of four spiritually-oriented levels inspired by the work of Sri Aurobindo. Beck and Cowan each consider this 3rd tier to be non-Gravesian.[40]

Spiral Dynamics vs AQAL altitudes[41]
SD / SDi AQAL altitudes
source tier level level tier source
directly from Graves 2nd ??? Clear Light 3rd inspired by Aurobindo
??? Ultraviolet
??? Violet
Coral Indigo
Turquoise Turquoise 2nd analogous to Graves
Yellow Teal
1st Green Green 1st
Orange Orange
Blue Amber
Red Red
Purple Magenta
Beige Infrared

Wilber critic Frank Visser notes that while Wilber gives a correspondence of his altitude colors to chakras, his correspondence does not actually match any traditional system for coloring chakras, despite Wilber's assertion that using the wrong colors would "backfire badly when any actual energies were used."[42] He goes on to note that Wilber's criticism of the SD colors as "inadequate" ignores that they were not intended to correlate with any system such as chakras. In this context, Visser expresses sympathy for Beck and Cowan's dismay over what Visser describes as "vandalism" regarding the color scheme, concluding that the altitude colors are an "awkward hybrid" of the SD and rainbow/chakra color systems, both lacking the expressiveness of the former and failing to accurately correlate with the latter.[43]

Validity and reception

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Spiral dynamics has been criticized by some as appearing to be like a cult, with undue prominence given to the business and intellectual property concerns of its leading advocates.[44] Psychologist Keith Rice, discussing his application of SDi in individual psychotherapy, notes that it encounters limitations in accounting for temperament and the unconscious.[45]

The journalist Patrick Vermeren argues that spiral dynamics is an ideological construct that is in blatant contradiction to scientific facts and has no theoretical or empirical validity, noting that Graves' speculative assumptions about human developmental stages contradict established findings in biology, physics and evolutionary psychology.[46] Vermeren also criticises spiral dynamics as ahistorical and factually inaccurate in its dating of human development stages; arbitrary in its use of color codes; reliant upon esoteric and pseudoscientific concepts; contradictory to evolutionary theory; and primarily a tool that consultants use to sell services to HR professionals.

Nicholas Reitter, writing in the Journal of Conscious Evolution, observes:[47]

On the other hand, the SD authors seem also to have magnified some of the weaknesses in Graves' approach. The occasional messianism, unevenness of presentation and constant business-orientation of Graves' (2005) manuscript is transmuted in the SD authors' book (Beck and Cowan 1996) into a sometimes- bewildering array of references to world history, pop culture and other topics, often made in helter-skelter fashion.

Influence and applications

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Spiral dynamics has been applied in some academic articles on management theory, which was the primary focus of the 1996 Spiral Dynamics book.[47][48][49][50][51][52] John Mackey and Rajendra Sisodia write that the vision and values of conscious capitalism as they articulate it are consistent with the "2nd tier" VMEMES.[53] Rica Viljoen's case study of economic development in Ghana demonstrates how understanding the Purple VMEME allows for organizational storytelling that connects with diverse (non-Western) worldviews.[54]

Spiral dynamics has also been noted as an example of applied memetics.[55][56] Schlaile also notes Said Dawlabani's SDi-based "MEMEnomics" as an alternative to his own "economemetics" in his chapter examining memetics and economics in the same book.[57] Elza Maalouf argues that SDi provides a "memetic" interpretation of non-Western cultures that Western NGOs often lack, focusing attention on the "indigenous content" of the culture's value system.[58]

spiral dynamics remains influential in new-age philosophy and spirituality.[20][59]

SDi has also been referenced in the fields of education,[60] urban planning,[61] and cultural analysis.[62]

Notes

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  1. ^ "What Is Spiral Dynamics®?". Spiral Dynamics®. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  2. ^ "Spiral Dynamics > About NVC Consulting > Chris Cowan, MA, Partner". www.spiral-dynamics.com. Retrieved 2025-04-27.
  3. ^ a b c Butters 2015, pp. 68–69
  4. ^ a b c d Butters 2015, pp. 69, 71–73
  5. ^ Lee, William R. (2002). "Preface". In Lee, William R.; Cowan, Christopher; Todorovic, Natasha (eds.). Levels of Human Existence: Edited Transcription of a Seminar at the Washington School of Psychiatry, October 16, 1971. Santa Barbara, CA: ECLET Publishing. pp. vii–viii. ISBN 0-9724742-0-X.
  6. ^ Graves, Clare W. (2002). Lee, William R.; Cowan, Christopher; Todorovic, Natasha (eds.). Levels of Human Existence: Edited Transcription of a Seminar at the Washington School of Psychiatry, October 16, 1971. Santa Barbara, CA: ECLET Publishing. ISBN 0-9724742-0-X.
  7. ^ Combs, Allan (April 2007). "Book Review: The Never Ending Quest". Review. Journal of Transformative Education. 5 (2). SAGE: 192–197. doi:10.1177/1541344607303850. S2CID 143451037.
  8. ^ Beck, Don; Larsen, Teddy Hebo; Solonin, Sergey; Viljoen, Rica; Johns, Thomas Q. (29 May 2018). Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanity's Master Code. Chester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-1-119-38718-3.
  9. ^ a b "National Values Center, Inc". Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Retrieved 4 February 2021. (search for "National Values Center", click "details" then "Public Information Report"; results cannot be bookmarked)
  10. ^ [Archive Document 74R SR00901F] (Senate Resolution 901). Texas State Senate. 3 May 1995. (Notes Beck's resignation from UNT)
  11. ^ a b Viljoen, Rica (29 May 2018). "Back to the Future – The South African Crucible Revisited". In Beck, Don (ed.). Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanity's Master Code. Chester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-119-38718-3.
  12. ^ Beck & Cowan 1996, p. 3
  13. ^ Butters 2015
  14. ^ a b Reitter 2018, pp. 42–43
  15. ^ a b c d e f Butters 2015, p. 71
  16. ^ a b U.S. Service Mark 75,477,781
  17. ^ Cowan, Christopher; Todorovic, Natasha. "FAQs: Integral". Spiral Dynamics Online. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  18. ^ a b Hampson, Gary P. (June 2007). "Integral Re-views Postmodernism: The Way Out Is Through" (PDF). Integral Review (4): 131. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  19. ^ a b Visser, Frank (1 September 2003). Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion. SUNY series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology. SUNY Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-7914-5815-0.
  20. ^ a b MacDonald, Copthorne. "Review Of: A Theory of Everything". Integralis: Journal of Integral Consciousness, Culture, and Science. 1. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  21. ^ Schuitemaker, Merry & Voorhoeve 2012, p. 258
  22. ^ Lessem, Ronnie; Abouleish, Ibrahim; Pogačnik, Marko; Herman, Louis (2016). "Cultural and Spiritual Emergence: Spiral Dynamics". Integral Polity: Integrating Nature, Culture, Society and Economy. Routledge. pp. 111–128. ISBN 978-1-4724-4247-5.
  23. ^ a b c Visser 2017, pp. 35–36
  24. ^ U.S. Trademark 85,125,521, U.S. Service Mark 85,125,521
  25. ^ Christensen, Tom (2015a). "Orienting Details". In Christensen, Tom (ed.). Innovate Development: Emerging Worldviews & Systems Change. ISBN 978-1-4951-5908-4.
  26. ^ Cacioppe & Edwards 2005, p. 93
  27. ^ Nasser 2021, p. 11
  28. ^ "Spiral Dynamics For Newbies".
  29. ^ Cook 2008, pp. 46–47
  30. ^ van Marrewijk, Marcel; Werre, Marco (May 2003). "Multiple Levels of Corporate Sustainability". Journal of Business Ethics. 44 (2/3). Springer: 108–109. doi:10.1023/A:1023383229086. S2CID 152644493.
  31. ^ Beck & Cowan 1996, pp. 47, 197, 203, 215, 229, 244, 260, 275, 287
  32. ^ Cook 2008, pp. 300, 344
  33. ^ Visser, Frank (February 2006). "A Spectrum of Wilber Critics". Integral World. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  34. ^ Maalouf, Elza. "Large Scale Psychology presentation at The Engaging The Other Conference in San Francisco". Center for Human Emergence Middle East. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  35. ^ Rice, Keith E. (4 October 2015). "Assimilation-Contrast Effect". Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  36. ^ McTaggart, Lynne (May 2011). The Bond: Connecting Through the Space Between Us. New York, NY: Free Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-4391-5794-7.
  37. ^ Wilber, Ken; Engler, Jack; Brown, Daniel P. (12 Sep 1986). Transformations of Consciousness. Shambhala. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-394-74202-1.
  38. ^ Bozesan, Mariana (10 Oct 2020). Integral Investing: From Profit to Prosperity. Springer, Cham. p. 136. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-54016-6. ISBN 978-3-030-54015-9. S2CID 226553363.
  39. ^ Esbjörn-Hargens, Sean (August 2010). "An Overview of Integral Theory: An All-Inclusive Framework for the Twenty-First Century". In Esbjörn-Hargens, Sean (ed.). Integral Theory in Action: Applied, Theoretical, and Constructive Perspectives on the AQAL Model. SUNY Series in Integral Theory. Albany: SUNY Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-4384-3385-1.
  40. ^ Visser 2017, pp. 35–39
  41. ^ Visser 2017, pp. 36–38 Note that while Visser shows two Spiral Dynamics colors above Coral, these are not present in Beck or Cowan's publications, and Cowan explicitly states that "no colors have been assigned for nodal systems beyond Turquoise and Coral. Teal and Aubergine are candidates, but Azure and Plum also have a certain appeal." (Cowan, Christopher (2006). "FAQs > Questions About the Colors in Spiral Dynamics". Retrieved 3 August 2021.)
  42. ^ Visser 2017, pp. 43–46
  43. ^ Visser 2017, pp. 47–49
  44. ^ Butters 2015, pp. 74–76
  45. ^ Rice, Keith (2015b). "The Use of SDi in Psychotherapy". In Christensen, Tom (ed.). Developmental Innovation: Emerging Worldviews & Individual Learning. ISBN 978-1-4951-5909-1.
  46. ^ Patrick Vermeren: Spiral Dynamics: A foolish alternative theory about human evolution. In: www.wirtschaftspsychologie-heute.de. 2. Juli 2020
  47. ^ a b Reitter 2018, p. 47
  48. ^ Neal, Judith (12 July 2018). "An Overview of the Field of Transformation". In Neal, Judith (ed.). Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation. Springer. pp. 3–46. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-66893-2_26. ISBN 978-3-319-66892-5.
  49. ^ Hansen, Erik G.; Schaltegger, Stefan (January 2016). "The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard: A Systematic Review of Architectures". Journal of Business Ethics. 133 (2). Springer: 216. doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2340-3. S2CID 54638344.
  50. ^ Cacioppe & Edwards 2005, pp. 86–88
  51. ^ Cook‐Greuter, Susanne R. (1 December 2004). "Making the Case for a Developmental Perspective". Industrial and Commercial Training. 36 (7). Emerald: 275–281. doi:10.1108/00197850410563902.
  52. ^ Laloux, Frederic (20 February 2014). Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. Nelson Parker. ISBN 978-2960133516.
  53. ^ Mackey, John; Sisodia, Rajendra (15 January 2013). Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business. Harvard Business Review Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-62527-175-4.
  54. ^ Viljoen, Rica (2015). "Navigating Transformation in a Purple Country". Inclusive Organizational Transformation: An African Perspective on Human Niches and Diversity of Thought. Gower. ISBN 978-1-4724-2299-6.
  55. ^ "Economic Complexity and Evolution". Springer. "All titles in this series are peer-reviewed."
  56. ^ Schlaile, Michael P. (22 December 2020). ""Meme Wars": A Brief Overview of Memetics and Some Essential Context". In Schlaile, Michael P. (ed.). Memetics and Evolutionary Economics. Economic Complexity and Evolution. Springer. p. 17. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-59955-3_2. ISBN 978-3-030-59954-6. S2CID 234331290.
  57. ^ Schlaile, Michael P. (22 December 2020). "A Case for Economemetics? Why Evolutionary Economists Should Re-evaluate the (F)utility of Memetics". In Schlaile, Michael P. (ed.). Memetics and Evolutionary Economics. Economic Complexity and Evolution. Springer. p. 37. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-59955-3_3. ISBN 978-3-030-59954-6. S2CID 234331290.
  58. ^ Maalouf, Elza (2014). "Introduction". Emerge! The Rise of Functional Democracy and the Future of the Middle East. Select Books. ISBN 978-1-59079-286-5.
  59. ^ Freinacht, Hanzi (10 March 2017). "Effective Value Meme". The Listening Society: A Metamodern Guide to Politics, Book One. Metamoderna. pp. 305–325. ISBN 978-8799973903.
  60. ^ Nasser 2021
  61. ^ Weichelt-Kosnick, Kristina (2020). "Alternative Ways to Promote Sustainable Consumer Behaviour—Identifying Potentials Based on Spiral Dynamics". In Planing, Patrick; Müller, Patrick; Dehdari, Payam; Bäumer, Thomas (eds.). Innovations for Metropolitan Areas. Berlin: Springer. pp. 145–156. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-60806-7_12. ISBN 978-3-662-60805-0. S2CID 226684034.
  62. ^ Viljoen, Rica; Laubscher, Loraine I. (1 June 2015). "African Spirituality: Insights from the Cradle of Mankind". In Spiller, Chellie; Wolfgramm, Rachel (eds.). Indigenous Spiritualities at Work: Transforming the Spirit of Enterprise. Information Age Publishing. ISBN 978-1-68123-155-6.

Works cited

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