Iryna Voznesenskayacoach, mentor, author of the “Steps. Your path in a new country” method Introductory meeting
The basis of the “Steps. Your path in a new country” method

Spiral Dynamics: what the steps stand on

The eight steps of my method grew out of one big theory about how people grow. The psychologist Clare Graves spent more than thirty years studying how adults picture a mature and healthy life. His students Don Beck and Christopher Cowan called this model Spiral Dynamics and gave each level its own colour.

Here you’ll find out in detail who created it, what a person needs and values at each level, and how they move on to the next one.

Clare Graves, 1914–1986Beck and Cowan, “Spiral Dynamics”, 19968 levels, 2 tiers
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Each turn is wider than the one beforeTap a number to open the level.
The essentials in brief

Values are a response to life conditions

Spiral Dynamics is a model of how what matters to a person changes. It isn’t about character or a “personality type”, but about what a person relies on and what they live for. As long as life conditions stay the same, they need one thing. When conditions change, the old ways of living stop helping, and a new, more complex way grows from within.

That’s why the model explains so well what happens when you move. A new country changes the conditions all at once: language, work, social circle, rules, sometimes the roles in the family. And a woman who stood confidently high up back home is, for a while, once again looking for sleep, her own people and her own voice. This isn’t weakness, but a normal response to new conditions.

A level is a response, not a grade

No level is better than another. Each one is right for its own conditions. When it’s cold, it makes sense to think about warmth, not about the meaning of life.

The lower levels hold up the higher ones

A new level doesn’t cancel the previous one, it stands on it. Sleep, your own people and your own voice are needed even by someone who is already at the top.

The steps go in a spiral

Life comes back to the same questions, but on a new turn. That is how life as a whole grows, and each area of it too. The levels alternate: one is about “I”, the next about “we”. The spiral has no end, only a new turn.

You can go up and down

When conditions get harder, a person leans on earlier ways in order to hold on. When things get easier, the way up opens again.

Authors

Who created Spiral Dynamics

The scientist who discovered the levels, and two of his students who made the model clear and usable.

Clare GravesClare W. Graves1914–1986 · psychologist, professor at Union College in Schenectady, New York

It all began with a question from students: which psychological theory is right, if they contradict each other? Instead of choosing one, Graves started his own research. He asked students to describe what a psychologically mature, healthy adult is like, and then they discussed and critiqued each other’s descriptions.

From 1952 to 1959 he collected answers from about 1065 people aged 18 to 61, and kept adding to them for another twelve years. The answers didn’t boil down to one “right” picture. They formed a series of levels, and each new one grew out of the previous one when life conditions changed. Graves called this the theory of levels of existence and was convinced that development has no end point.

Don BeckDon Edward Beck1937–2022 · professor from Texas, later a consultant on large-scale change in societies and organisations

In 1974 he read Graves’s article in the magazine “The Futurist”, in 1975 he flew to see him in New York, and from then on he worked with him, together with Cowan, right up to Graves’s death in 1986.

He applied the model where a whole country is changing: from 1981 to 1988 he travelled to South Africa more than 36 times and helped look for a peaceful way out of apartheid. Later, together with the philosopher Ken Wilber, he developed his own version — Spiral Dynamics integral.

Christopher CowanChristopher C. CowanBeck’s colleague at the university in Texas, co-author of the model

In 1979 he and Beck founded the National Values Center, and in 1996 they published the book “Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change”. It was in this book that the levels got the colours and names that coaches and consultants know today.

In 1999 Beck and Cowan went their separate ways. Cowan, together with Natasha Todorovic, carried on Graves’s own line: they collected his manuscripts and seminar recordings and in 2005 published the book “The Never Ending Quest”.

“The psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating, spiraling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to newer, higher-order systems as man’s existential problems change”.

Clare Graves, “The Futurist”, 1974
How the spiral works

Conditions, response and the “I — we” rhythm

Conditions and response

Each level is a pair: life conditions and the way of thinking that responds to them. Graves himself didn’t use colours. He wrote the levels as pairs of letters: A–N, B–O, C–P and so on. The first letter stands for life conditions, the second for the way of coping with them. A new way wakes up when tasks appear that the old one can no longer solve.

I — we — I — we

The levels alternate. On the odd ones a person expresses themselves: surviving, putting themselves out there, achieving, being themselves. On the even ones they give part of themselves for something shared: family, order, people, the world. In Spiral Dynamics the first are shown in warm colours, the second in cool ones. That’s why “I did it” is always followed by “with whom and what for”.

Two tiers

Graves called the first six levels the levels of survival and of getting life in order: each of them considers its own view the only right one. With the seventh begins what he called a momentous leap: a person sees that each level is needed in its own way and can lean on any of them, depending on the situation. Beck and Cowan called this the first and the second tier.

Centre of gravity

A person doesn’t have one level for everything. At work you can stand on one step, in the family on another, and after a move lean on a third. That’s why people talk about a centre of gravity: where you most often think and decide from. And every level has a healthy face and a face for when there’s too much of it.

Eight levels

What is needed and what is valued at each level

Read from the bottom up. Each level has its own colour in Spiral Dynamics, its own watercolour card in my method and its own steps on the three paths: in life in a new country, in your own business and in relationships.

Watercolour card “The fire that warms”
1
Level 1 · beige · A–N · about “I”

Survive and keep warm

All attention goes to the body: food, warmth, sleep and safety. There’s no time yet to think about the future or about meaning, and that’s right: first you need to survive and save your strength.

Beck and Cowan call this level SurvivalSense, “a sense for survival”.

When it switches on

This is how people live in the first days of life, in serious illness, in deep old age, after a disaster, a war or having to flee, in extreme exhaustion. People also end up here for a while after a move, until there is a home, money, sleep and clear anchors.

What is needed

Food, warmth, a roof over your head, sleep, safety, rest for the body and someone nearby to take care of the simplest things.

What is valued

bodywarmthsafetyresthere and now

The strength of the level

An instinct that leads you out of the hardest situation. The ability to save your strength and notice what matters most.

When there is too much of it

Life shrinks to survival even when the danger is already behind you: “no time to live, I have to hold on”.

How my clients put it

I have no energy for anythingI’m running on nerves and never get enough sleep

What opens the way forward. When the body is safe and strength has returned, you want not only to survive but also to be with someone. The question “who are my people?” appears.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryThe broken bowl →Your own businessFrom zero →RelationshipsSafe together →
Watercolour card “The nest”
2
Level 2 · purple · B–O · about “we”

Being among your own

Safety comes through belonging: family, kin, community, your own customs. This is where rituals, omens, holidays and the warm feeling of “we’re together” are born.

Beck and Cowan call this level KinSpirits, “the spirit of kin”.

When it switches on

The world seems big and unpredictable, and you can’t survive in it alone. Your support is your own people: elders, family, community, the familiar way of life.

What is needed

Your own people nearby, the warmth of family, shared traditions and holidays, a place where people know you by name, and elders you can trust.

What is valued

family and kinloyalty to your owntraditionsremembering the ancestorshome

The strength of the level

Warmth, care and a sense of roots. The ability to stick together and pass on the experience of generations.

When there is too much of it

Fear of stepping outside your own circle, “what will people say”, living by omens instead of your own decisions, dissolving into the family.

How my clients put it

I have no one to talk to hereI live for my calls home

What opens the way forward. When the circle is reliable, your own “I want” wakes up inside. Living only by the rules of the clan feels too tight, and you want your own strength and your own voice.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryYour circle →Your own businessCircle of trust →RelationshipsOur home →
Watercolour card “A poppy breaking through stone”
3
Level 3 · red · C–P · about “I”

Your own strength

A person separates from the clan and says: “I exist, and I can”. Here there is energy, courage, drive, the wish to get what’s yours now, and self-respect.

Beck and Cowan call this level PowerGods, “power”.

When it switches on

The world feels like a jungle: the strong win, there’s no time to wait, and you have to fight your way through on your own.

What is needed

Freedom to act, respect, the right to say “no”, recognition of your own strength and quick results you can see.

What is valued

strengthcouragefreedomrespecthonour

The strength of the level

The courage to start, to break through, to protect yourself and your own. The energy that carries the first steps.

When there is too much of it

Rudeness and pressure, power struggles, “everything, right now”, unwillingness to consider others or the consequences.

How my clients put it

I can’t say “no”Everything is decided for me

What opens the way forward. When there is no one left to prove your strength to, you want order: clear rules, meaning and the confidence that your efforts won’t be wasted.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryI can do it myself →Your own businessPutting myself out there →RelationshipsMy voice in the couple →
Watercolour card “The compass”
4
Level 4 · blue · D–Q · about “we”

Order and meaning

There is a right way, rules and duty. A person is willing to put up with things now for the sake of a secure future and for the sake of what is right.

Beck and Cowan call this level TruthForce, “the force of truth”.

When it switches on

Life seems chaotic, and you want to bring order to it. The anchor is rules, the law, faith and an order that is the same for everyone.

What is needed

Clear rules, predictability, stability, clear roles and responsibilities, and the feeling that you are doing the right thing.

What is valued

orderdutyhonestydisciplinefairnesskeeping your word

The strength of the level

Reliability and stability. The ability to keep your word, meet deadlines and build something that will outlast you. Much in Switzerland — deadlines, letters, the house rules — speaks the language of this level.

When there is too much of it

A black-and-white world, rigidity, guilt over every mistake and “that’s how it’s done” instead of a living decision.

How my clients put it

Every letter — and my heart poundsI’m afraid of making a mistake and getting a fine

What opens the way forward. When order has become your own, you want more than just “right”: your own goals, your own success, your own path.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryClear rules →Your own businessOrder in the business →RelationshipsOur agreements →
Watercolour card “The hot-air balloon”
5
Level 5 · orange · E–R · about “I”

Your own success

A person believes they can improve their life themselves: they set goals, look for the best way, try things out, do the maths and grow.

Beck and Cowan call this level StriveDrive, “the drive to succeed”.

When it switches on

The world is full of opportunities, and they can be used. The winner is the one who thinks, learns and acts wisely.

What is needed

A goal, freedom of choice, results and recognition, money as a measure of success, development and new opportunities.

What is valued

successachievementindependencegrowthknowledgeprogress

The strength of the level

Enterprise, the courage to try new things, the ability to set goals and see things through to a result.

When there is too much of it

A race without stopping, burnout, people as a resource and the thought “I’m worth as much as I’ve achieved”.

How my clients put it

My diploma means nothing hereI want to, but I don’t

What opens the way forward. When there is success but no joy, attention turns to people: to closeness, to feelings and to those it is all for.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryWork of my own →Your own businessThe business grows →RelationshipsWe both grow →
Watercolour card “A wreath of wildflowers”
6
Level 6 · green · F–S · about “we”

People and closeness

What matters is how others feel, being accepted, listening and being heard. Everyone is different, and everyone is equal.

Beck and Cowan call this level HumanBond, “human connection”.

When it switches on

Prosperity is already there, but inside it feels empty. The race for success gave a lot, but it divided people. You want to bring back warmth, equality and care for one another and for the earth.

What is needed

Acceptance, closeness, a community of like-minded people, the chance to help, harmony and decisions that take everyone into account.

What is valued

peoplefeelingsequalitycooperationcarenature

The strength of the level

Empathy, the ability to bring people together, to hear everyone and to build community.

When there is too much of it

Endless consultations, the fear of offending someone and dissolving into other people’s needs: “I help everyone and end up drained”.

How my clients put it

I’ve achieved it, but there’s no joyI help everyone and end up drained

What opens the way forward. When you understand that everyone is right in their own way, you want to see the whole: how everything is connected and what really matters right now.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryMy contribution →Your own businessTeam and meaning →RelationshipsWe hear each other →
Watercolour card “The nautilus shell”
7
Level 7 · yellow · G–T · about “I”

Life as a whole

A person sees how everything is connected and doesn’t cling to one right way. One situation calls for order, another for courage, a third for care, and they can draw on any of them.

Beck and Cowan call this level FlexFlow, “flexible flow”.

When it switches on

The world is complex and changing fast. There are no ready-made answers, but there is more knowledge and freedom than ever.

What is needed

Freedom to be yourself without harming others, knowledge, meaning, time for what matters most and the chance to do what you do best.

What is valued

freedomknowledgeflexibilitywholenessresponsibility for yourself

The strength of the level

Calm in the face of complexity, the ability to see the system, to change course flexibly and to draw on any level as the situation requires.

When there is too much of it

Detachment: I understand everything, but share it with no one and live as if above life.

How my clients put it

I’m waiting for real life to beginWhat if we had never left

What opens the way forward. When your own life has come together as a whole, it becomes part of something bigger: children, people, the world.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryMy whole life →Your own businessSystem and freedom →RelationshipsTogether by choice →
Watercolour card “The world in a dewdrop”
8
Level 8 · turquoise · H–U · about “we”

One whole

A person feels part of something bigger: people, nature, generations. What matters is what will remain after you.

Beck and Cowan call this level GlobalView, “a view of the whole”.

When it switches on

The world is interconnected: what happens in one place echoes everywhere. Solutions are needed for everyone, not for one group.

What is needed

A sense of unity, a meaning bigger than yourself, the chance to pass on experience and to serve life, silence and gratitude.

What is valued

unityservicewisdomcare for the worldlegacy

The strength of the level

A broad view and wisdom. The ability to bring together what seems incompatible: “here” and “there”, past and future.

When there is too much of it

Retreating into the lofty and the distant, while everyday life and loved ones are left aside.

How my clients put it

I’m between two worldsI want something to remain after me

What opens the way forward. Graves believed the spiral does not end: after the eighth level comes the ninth (Beck and Cowan gave it the colour coral), and after it more levels. That is why the main book about his work is called “The Never Ending Quest”.

This step in my method

Life in a new countryHere and there — one life →Your own businessBigger than me →RelationshipsLove bigger than us →
How the transition happens

How a person moves to the next level

A new level can’t be learned or assigned to yourself. It grows by itself when the old ways stop coping with new conditions. Graves, and later Beck and Cowan, described what this takes and what a person goes through.

Six conditions for change

  1. Openness

    Readiness to change. Beck and Cowan distinguished three states. Open thinking is ready for something new when conditions change. Stuck thinking is held back by a barrier, but if the barrier is removed, movement is possible. Closed thinking can’t change right now, and pushing it is pointless.

  2. Solved problems

    The basic questions are mostly settled, and energy is freed up. As long as there is no sleep and no roof over your head, there won’t be enough of it for the meaning of life. This isn’t laziness, it’s the order of things.

  3. Mismatch

    Something comes up that can’t be solved the old way: “this doesn’t work any more”, “I feel cramped”. The feeling is unpleasant, but it is exactly what moves you forward.

  4. A named barrier

    What holds you back has been seen and named: fear, circumstances, the people around you, the belief “I’m not allowed”. A named barrier can be worked around or removed.

  5. Insight

    You can see why the old way doesn’t work and where you could go. Another option appears that wasn’t visible before.

  6. Support

    There are people around you, a rhythm and small steps while the new is still unfamiliar. Without support it’s easy to slip back into the old.

Five states along the way

  1. alphaBalance

    Your life and what you need match. Everything works.

    in the method — “Standing firm”
  2. betaUnease

    Something is wrong, but it’s unclear what. You try the old way, only harder.

    the start of “Reaching higher”
  3. gammaDead end

    It’s already clear what’s wrong, but there seems to be no way out. Anger, helplessness, “I want to, but I don’t”.

    “Reaching higher” — this is when people come to a coach
  4. deltaBreakthrough

    The barrier is named, a path appears, things feel light, there’s lots of energy.

    “Reaching higher”
  5. new alphaNew balance

    The new way settles in and becomes your own, now one turn higher up the spiral.

    “Finding my feet” on the next step

A dead end is not a failure. It is a sign that the old has become too tight and the new has not yet opened up. This is where support is needed most: to name the barrier, see the way out and take the first step.

Two kinds of change

Within your step

Adjusting, improving, expanding what is already there: a new skill, a different daily routine, one more client. Beck and Cowan called this first-order change.

To a new step

The very way you look at life changes: what matters, what for and how. This is second-order change. It takes time, and it can’t be sped up by pressure.

What else is important to know about the transition

The spiral in my method

How the spiral lives in the “Steps” method

The “Steps. Your path in a new country” method is my own adaptation of Spiral Dynamics for life after a move, for your own business and for relationships. From the model I took the map of eight levels and the way a person moves from one level to the next. And I named the steps in simple words — after what a person needs. The image of the method is steps and a spiral: from the bottom up, with each turn wider than the one before. Each path has its own symbols: for life in a new country, a bowl put back together with gold; for your own business, the path from seed to oak; for a couple, two trees side by side.

entryFinding my feet

“I’m only just learning, everything takes effort”. You need information and something to lean on.

flowering · alphaStanding firm

“This is working for me”. The step works, and energy is freed up.

exit · beta, gamma, deltaReaching higher

“This isn’t enough for me any more”. Unease, dead end and breakthrough. This is where coaching works.

One level — three steps on three paths. Tap a step to open it.
LevelLife in a new countryWork of my ownRelationships
1 · Survive and keep warmbeigeThe broken bowlFrom zeroSafe together
2 · Being among your ownpurpleYour circleCircle of trustOur home
3 · Your own strengthredI can do it myselfPutting myself out thereMy voice in the couple
4 · Order and meaningblueClear rulesOrder in the businessOur agreements
5 · Your own successorangeWork of my ownThe business growsWe both grow
6 · People and closenessgreenMy contributionTeam and meaningWe hear each other
7 · Life as a wholeyellowMy whole lifeSystem and freedomTogether by choice
8 · One wholeturquoiseHere and there — one lifeBigger than meLove bigger than us
Where are you on your spiral right now?

The “Steps of Stability” test shows which steps hold you and which ones creak. And at the introductory meeting we’ll look together at what will help you take the next step.

Take the testIntroductory meeting
An honest look at the model

A map, not a diagnosis

Sources

Further reading