BALYAEV, Anatoly
(Russia)
Title of contribution:
Some new metaphors to explain integral theory
How Spiral Dynamics helped a giant mining company
Where & when:
Some new metaphors to explain integral theory
For 12 years I’ve been looking for different perspectives to explain the importance of integral theory and Spiral Dynamics. I see some limitations in a high intellectual barrier lying on the way to understand these brilliant ideas. If quadrants could be found in everything let’s make a possibility of using them as simple as possible. If Spiral Dynamics is about values it must touch not only your brain but all of your being because values are what touches you dramatically. It’s not about inappropriate simplification – it’s about adaptive and flexible metaphors. For example, I’ve found that music is very much like consciousness – intellectual explanation of a beautiful melody just doesn’t bother you and actually says nothing about it. How we can express ourselves by teaching integral to make people laugh and cry so they could see how deep and revolutionary these ideas are?
How Spiral Dynamics helped a giant mining company
It’s a real success story. In the beginning we had a 412 people who hardly know each other and work with not much pleasure. In the end we have a huge community of open people with a strong growing involvement in a realization of passionate goals. It was six months of a very interesting work with each part of their corporate orchestra to find a way to play their common music. Together we were taking care of the health of their alive inner culture – in a big gamification space we were creating and solving conflicts, we were learning how to deal with an aggression and welcome an expression, how to find a solution for a complex issue, how to listen and understand each other. And no one knew about Spiral Dynamics until the last days of this social development so the final truth became a revealing mighty accord in our work. I’ll tell you everything about those amazing six months of my life
About Anatoly Balyaev:
Anatoly Balyaev. Writer and business consultant. Creator of an “Evolutionary Intelligence”, educational program based on Spiral Dynamics and integral theory. Science editor and translator of Russian versions of books about Spiral Dynamics. The organizer of an annual international integral online conferences “The Great October Evolution”. An expert of a national initiative “Living Cities”. A happy husband and a father.
