I learnt about Spiral Dynamics around 2007 and its a tool that I use daily.
So what is Spiral Dynamics?
The Wikipedia entry is quite dry – Spiral Dynamics describes how value systems and worldviews emerge from the interaction of “life conditions” and the mind’s capacities.
Quite simply, its a mental model. For me, its a tool I use that helps a business see where they’ve come from, where they are today and where they could be tomorrow. Its not the be all or end all, its not some magic cure, it just gives hints and insights. Comparable tools are Myers Briggs or Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs.
In this context, I’m going to focus on businesses, although you can apply it to people, communities (friends, larger groups of friends), sporting clubs, schools etc. etc
The spiral is split into memes (or levels). At its most basic is Beige, then Purple, Red, Blue, Orange & Green. This is tier one. Tier 2 then repeats (hence the spiral) the similar memes, at a more advanced level.
| Meme | Description | |
| Beige | The beginning. You really aren’t a business yet, more a subcontractor. You have 1 or 2 clients that represent > 90% of your monthly revenue | |
| Purple | —- | Things are starting, but not consistently. You’re constantly chasing one job to another. Generally only 1 or 2 of you are generating revenue and its purely profit based. If you have staff, they are generally someone you know personally (spouse etc) |
| Red | At Red, you know there’s a better way. You take a step back and are happy to throw away what is not working. Red is a transition and you generally don’t spend too long at Red. Its stresful, uncertain, but you’re confident you can make it work. Marketing is random (if at all) | |
| Blue | Blue meme is all about process and consistently. This is where you start implementing policy and procedures. How do you bring on new clients? What’s your sales process like? You probably pay yourself a salary and your marketing is consistent and effective. You’ll turn it “on” when you need new leads and turn it off when you have enough work on. You know the importance of following procedures and you’ll happily forgoe revenue if it meant a procedure is adhered to | |
| Orange | Rules were meant to be broken! Orange businesses are all about the sale and will do whatever it takes to get a deal done. Staff are managed under strict KPI’s and are let go if they don’t hit their targets. Orange are the ultimate chameleon and are fast learners. If they see a better way they will embrace it. Unfortunately they might not know WHY it works, but they know it does | |
| Green | Green businesses truly believe the customer comes first! Customer complaints are resolved quickly and completely. That doesn’t mean “the customer is always right”, but you’ll always feel like you’ve been heard and feel respected |
Examples
Purple / Red
- GP’s & Surgeons. They might have 1 or 2 family members who take bookings & payments. A good way to tell if you aren’t in Blue is vacation time – does the business shut down? Or continue? If revenue stops, then you’re not at Blue yet
Blue
- Any small business generating > $150k per staff member. (They just can’t be that financially successful unless they have good policy & procedures)
- Auditing
- Tax / Accountants
- You could include some of your smaller, service based business like Chiropractors, Physio’s.
Orange
Most of your larger, services based businesses are Orange. Some classic examples are Microsoft, Financial Institutions (ie Banks), Nike
Green
Green businesses are few and far between – but they do exist! Singapore Airlines, zappos.com & United Nations
So, how can this help me?
First, you need to understand where you are on the spiral. Most companies I speak with are either Purple or Red. The key to transition to Blue is your procedures!
Key questions to answer:
- What is your sales process? Assume I’m a new prospect, how did I find you, interact with you, hire you & pay you?
- What is your on-boarding process? I’ve paid my money, I want you “thing”.
- Upsell / cross sell. I love what you do and the result I got was fantastic! Now what happens?
Business at the Blue meme can turn on and turn off their marketing & sales pipeline. If you’d like to understand how this could work for you, reach out here.