After a phase of agility, personal responsibility and a sense of purpose, a new picture emerges. What is behind it? What logics are at work here – and what are they helpful for?
In the interview, Andrea explains how the Graves model helps to better understand such dynamics.
Dear Andrea, why are we currently seeing more control, efficiency and hierarchy again?
Andrea: Because many people currently find these ways of thinking helpful for their challenges – not out of nostalgia, but out of necessity. They are trying to create security in uncertain times. What we already know feels safe. In uncertain times, we fall back on patterns of thought and action that we already know. The Graves model describes how we humans want to develop continuously, moving from one stage to the next. But we only do this in safe times. In uncertainty, on the other hand, there is an urge to stagnate or even to return to previous levels because they give us stability and orientation.
How does the Graves model help to classify such dynamics?
Andrea: The model describes the different levels of values and culture – at each level, different things are important to us as people, in teams or even organizations. For example, are we primarily on the “blue level”, we want security, rules and clear structures. In “Orange”, it is success and competition that are most important to us. In “Green”, on the other hand, we are concerned with a sense of togetherness and purpose. There are currently a total of nine described value levels on which we operate. If there are too many levels that separate us from other people or teams, tensions can arise. For example, if the management focuses primarily on competition and price wars and the team is geared towards a sense of unity and lifelong learning. Then people talk past each other, even though they each act sensibly from their own perspective and within their own level. In this case, it is important to engage in a different kind of exchange and to look for a common denominator for the collaboration and fill it with life.
How do you use the model in practice?
Andrea: It’s not a recipe book, but a framework for reflection. Together with our clients, we take a look: Which levels are currently shaping the organization? Where should the company or a team be developed with a view to the future? What stumbling blocks and dynamics arise from this – in leadership, communication and decision-making? This allows us to recognize what fits now and what may not (yet). And from there, they develop impulses that are connectable. Don’t overwhelm, but develop – step by step.
The Graves level
