Spiral Descriptors

1. PerformanceSystems Strategy/ChangeProcess OrganizationCharacteristics LeadershipCharacteristics • Top-down driven • Programmatic and structured • Hierarchical and rigidly structured • Sharp lines between ranks • Power is in the position, not the personality • People are expected to be the best they can be in their right and proper places • A code of honor, pride in craftsmanship and sense of guilt are built into the entity • Life is devoted to service of the authority, obeisance to its directives and self-sacrifice • The organization, not members, is permanent and will endure • The manager is judge and representative of even higher authority • Managers reward faithful, loyal employees and hard work • Paternalistic caring for needs of followers and regulation of their conduct • Policy/rule oriented • Manager as sole judge and evaluator Spiral Descriptors Blue – Moralistic, Prescriptive/Authority Structure Beck, Don and Cowan, Christopher (1996). Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

2. PerformanceSystems Strategy/ChangeProcess OrganizationCharacteristics LeadershipCharacteristics • Structured Strategy and Planning • Portfolio Management • Feed Stars; Starve Dogs • Drive accountability through corporate watchdog approach • Competitive Businesses • Extrinsic motivation through promise of reward/ promotion • People need clear goals, objectives, targets just beyond reach • An effective person is a well-oiled machine that works as expected • Each person calculates the actions that will maximize his/her own advantages and leverage competitive opportunities • People are driven by economic motives and will do almost anything if you only know the rules for their proper manipulation • The individual, beyond being an economic being, is a passive organism meant to be maneuvered by external forces • Human beings are like replaceable parts in a machine that can always be improved • Money, perks, and opportunities to advance are the lubricants for productivity • Carrots and sticks motivate personnel and both are used calculatingly • Believe the world and people are vast mechanisms that can be perfected • Manage just by the facts that provide tools for control and managed information • Manager’s role is to plan, organize, motivate, control and evaluate work • Executive’s first responsibility and primary concern is the viability of the organization and its competitive posture • People are necessarily second • Leadership role involves who reports to whom? Who does what job? How are jobs best designed? How to develop and manipulate necessary incentives? • Rational and purely objective • Competitive (forced ranking) Spiral Descriptors Orange – Rational, Economic/Strategic Enterprise Beck, Don and Cowan, Christopher (1996). Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

3. PerformanceSystems Strategy/ChangeProcess OrganizationCharacteristics LeadershipCharacteristics • Strategy with High Involvement of Stakeholders • Strategy as Learning Process • Structured Dialogue informs Strategy • Understand Need for Shared Vision and Purpose • Shift toward intrinsic motivators • People work for human contact, learning about others and self-fulfillment • People feel that being liked and accepted is more important than economic rewards or material gain • People value peer approval in a climate of openness, trust and sharing, but fear rejection and disapproval • Hierarchies, competitive career ladders and executive privilege blur in favor of frequent, open communication and accessibility • People come first – focus on development and self-accountability • Typically flatter organization with minimal hierarchy • Involvement and participation are key to effectiveness • Role of leader is not so much to direct as to facilitate • All “belong” in a pleasant work environment with people-friendly gathering spots • Leaders strive to achieve goals by providing satisfaction of affiliated needs if people perform • A manager is more of a colleague than a boss with the view of “we are all in it together” • Leaders emphasize greater purpose of meaningful service • Team-based • Focus on potential and fulfillment Spiral Descriptors Green – Social, Communitarian/Social Network Beck, Don and Cowan, Christopher (1996). Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

4. PerformanceSystems ChangeProcess OrganizationCharacteristics LeadershipCharacteristics • Systemic change driven by market/client • Flexible Strategy Co-Created with Multiple Stakeholders • Best and brightest on teams that form and disband • Constant change; adaptability • Who knows most about what are most highly valued regardless of credentials or power of the office • People enjoy doing that work which fits their natural talents • Workers need free access to information, tools and materials • Learning and understanding motivates people, not payoffs or punishments • People work effectively singly or in groups based on the situation and output required • People are highly motivated to access knowledge and build competence. There is life-long interest in learning and experimentation • There is little regard for fancy offices, status symbols, hierarchies of privilege or any adornment of authority and power • Believe each person is free to choose whether to put up with, try to change or even walk away, but he/she will take individual responsibility for the consequences • Managers act as go-fers (not supervisors or overseers) for the worker, getting necessary information and materials to the right place as needed • Contracts are made with employees on “what” and “by when.” A great deal of freedom regarding “how” is given • Leaders facilitate commitment to agreed, joint purpose • Diversity is leveraged with each competency valued • People, technology, nature, and procedures are interwoven and integrated into structures of work • Focus on competence- Individual- Group • Values, performance and competencies • Performance dialogues • Fluid and constant • Multiple sources of feedback Spiral Descriptors Yellow – Less Becomes More/Elegant Simplicity Beck, Don and Cowan, Christopher (1996). Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.