The document provides an overview of integral theory and its key concepts, including the quadrants. Integral theory takes a comprehensive, holistic approach by considering multiple perspectives on any situation or event. It views reality through four "quadrants" or dimensions of experience - the individual interior (subjective experiences), individual exterior (objective behaviors), collective interior (intersubjective cultures and meanings), and collective exterior (social systems and institutions). Understanding an issue requires examining it through all four quadrants to get a full, integral picture. Different techniques are used to experience and understand each quadrant.
6. Preface
This book is one in a series of presentations for the use of Integral theory or an Integral
meta-framework in understanding cities and urban design.
Although each can stand alone, taken together they give a more rounded appreciation of
how this broader framework can help in the analysis and design of thriveable urban
environments.
Key to an Integral approach to urban design is the notion that although other aspects of
urban life are important, people, as individuals and communities, are the primary ‘purpose’
for making cities thriveable. All other aspects (technology, transport & infrastructure,
health, education, sustainability, economic development, etc.) although playing a major
part, are secondary.
This work shows the slides from a dynamic deck that accompany a presentation on
Thriveable Smart Sustainable Cities. The history of the co-evolution of cities, worldviews
and technology is presented in an integral framework.
This volume is part of an ongoing series of guides for integrally informed practitioners.
10. Why Integral
For AQAL, this means that a subject might be at a particular wave of consciousness, in a
particular stream of consciousness, in a particular state of consciousness, in one quadrant
or another.
That means that the phenomena brought forth by various types of human inquiry will be
different depending on the quadrants, levels, lines, states, and types of the subjects
bringing forth the phenomena.
A subject at one wave of consciousness will not enact and bring forth the same
worldspace as a subject at another wave; and similarly with quadrants, streams, states, and
types (as we will see in more detail).
Subjects do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different states of subjects
bring forth different worlds.
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
11. A Broader Framework
The word integral means comprehensive, inclusive, non-
marginalizing, embracing. Integral approaches to any
field attempt to be exactly that: to include as many
perspectives, styles, and methodologies as possible
within a coherent view of the topic.
In a certain sense, integral approaches are “meta-
paradigms,” or ways to draw together an already existing
number of separate paradigms into an interrelated
network of approaches that are mutually enriching.
– Ken Wilber
integralMENTORS
12. A Broader Framework
"We move from part to whole and
back again, and in that dance of
comprehension, in that amazing
circle of understanding, we come
alive to meaning, to value, and to
vision: the very circle of
understanding guides our way,
weaving together the pieces,
healing the fractures, mending
the torn and tortured fragments,
lighting the way ahead -- this
extraordinary movement from
part to whole and back again,
with healing the hallmark of each
and every step, and grace the
tender reward." Ken Wilber.
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
13. An Integral View – A Broader Framework
What can be said about a more integral model of human possibilities?
Before talking about the application of an integral vision — in education,
politics, business, health care, and so on — there needs to be some general
notion of what it is that is to be applied in the first place. Moving from
pluralistic relativism to universal integralism, what kind of map might be
found?
A more integral cartography might include:
• multiple waves of existence, spanning the entire spectrum of consciousness, subconscious to self-
conscious to super-conscious.
• numerous different streams, modules, or lines of development, including cognitive, moral, spiritual,
aesthetic, somatic, imaginative, interpersonal, etc.
• multiple states of consciousness, including waking, dreaming, sleeping, altered, non-ordinary, and
meditative.
• numerous different types of consciousness, including gender types, personality types (enneagram,
Myers-Briggs, Jungian), and so on.
• multiple brain states and organic factors.
integralMENTORS
14. An Integral View – A Broader Framework
• the extraordinarily important impact of numerous cultural factors, including the rich textures of
diverse cultural realities, background contexts, pluralistic perceptions, linguistic semantics, and so
on, none of which should be unwarrantedly marginalized, all of which should be included and
integrated in a broad web of integral-aperspectival tapestries (and, just as important, a truly
"integral transformative practice" would give considerable weight to the importance of
relationships, community, culture, and intersubjective factors in general, not as merely a realm of
application of spiritual insight, but as a mode of spiritual transformation).
• the massively influential forces of the social system, at all levels (from nature to human structures,
including the all-important impact of nonhuman social systems, from Gaia to ecosystems).
A more integral cartography might also include:
Such are a few of the multiple factors that a richly holistic view of the Kosmos
might wish to include. At the very least, any model that does not coherently
include all of those items is not a very integral model. Ken Wilber
• the importance of the self as the navigator of the great River of Life should not be overlooked. It
appears that the self is not a monolithic entity but rather a society of selves with a centre of
gravity, which acts to bind the multiple waves, states, streams, and realms into something of a
unified organization; the disruption of this organization, at any of its general stages, can result in
pathology.
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
15. How did you try
to change or
transform
yourself, others,
a human system
or a culture?
What did you
try to change or
transform in
yourself, others,
a human system
or a culture?
Are you
satisfied with
the outcome?
Did your
intervention
succeed or fail?
How do you
know?
If not, what
would you do
next?
Mapping Interventions or Means
My Intention My Behaviour
Urban Culture Urban Activity
My context
Me
integralMENTORS
18. Integral view
The ‘world’ is an experience in four dimensions, the ‘I’ – intentions or subjective; the ‘We’ –
cultural or intersubjective; the ‘It’ – behavioural or objectives, and the ‘Its’ – social systems or
inter-objective. These are the Quadrants.
These dimensions are then filtered through:
• our complexity of experiences or Stages of Development;
• our different streams of experience or Line of Development in areas such as cognition,
values, world-view, ego/self, morals, etc., through
• our Types such as our gender, religion, politics, race, …… psychology, and finally through
• our State in experiencing such as: mood [happy or sad],wake, or asleep …….. etc.
Putting these all together we have a simple overview of the Integral Map or the AQAL
Integral meta-theory.
For more detail on theory see
Urban Hub 19 : An Integral Theory of Changeand a framework for action, and
Urban Hub 22 : Transitions
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
20. What Is the Integral Approach?
During the last 30 years, we have witnessed a historical first: all of the world’s cultures are now available to us. In the
past, if you were born, say, a Chinese, you likely spent your entire life in one culture, often in one province, sometimes
in one house, living and loving and dying on one small plot of land. But today, not only are people geographically
mobile, we can study, and have studied, virtually every known culture on the planet. In the global village, all cultures
are exposed to each other.
Knowledge itself is now global. This means that, also for the first time, the sum total of human knowledge is available
to us—the knowledge, experience, wisdom and reflection of all major human civilizations—premodern, modern, and
postmodern—are open to study by anyone.
What if we took literally everything that all the various cultures have to tell us about human potential—about spiritual
growth, psychological growth, social growth—and put it all on the table? What if we attempted to find the critically
essential keys to human growth, based on the sum total of human knowledge now open to us? What if we attempted,
based on extensive cross-cultural study, to use all of the world’s great traditions to create a composite map, a
comprehensive map, an all-inclusive or integral map that included the best elements from all of them?
Sound complicated, complex, daunting? In a sense, it is. But in another sense, the results turn out to be surprisingly
simple and elegant. Over the last several decades, there has indeed been an extensive search for a comprehensive
map of human potentials. This map uses all the known systems and models of human growth—from the ancient
shamans and sages to today’s breakthroughs in cognitive science—and distils their major components into 5 simple
factors, factors that are the essential elements or keys to unlocking and facilitating human evolution.
Welcome to the Integral Model.
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
21. Integral Approach
In short, the Integral Approach helps you see both yourself and the world around you in more comprehensive and
effective ways. But one thing is important to realize from the start. The Integral Map is just a map. It is not the territory.
We certainly don’t want to confuse the map with the territory, but neither do we want to be working with an inaccurate
or faulty map. The Integral Map is just a map, but it is the most complete and accurate map we have at this time.
We find that an infant at birth has not yet been socialized into the culture’s ethics and conventions; this is called the pre-
conventional stage. It is also called egocentric, in that the infant’s awareness is largely self-absorbed. But as the young
child begins to learn its culture’s rules and norms, it grows into the conventional stage of morals. This stage is also called
ethnocentric, in that it centres on the child’s particular group, tribe, clan, or nation, and it therefore tends to exclude care
for those not of one’s group. But at the next major stage of moral development, the post-conventional stage, the
individual’s identity expands once again, this time to include a care and concern for all peoples, regardless of race,
colour, sex, or creed, which is why this stage is also called world-centric.
Thus, moral development tends to move from “me” (egocentric) to “us” (ethnocentric) to “all of us” (world-centric) — a
good example of the unfolding stages of consciousness.
What is the point of using this Integral Map or Model? First, whether you are working in business, medicine,
psychotherapy, law, ecology, or simply everyday living and learning, the Integral Map helps make sure that you are
“touching all the bases.” If you are trying to fly over the Rocky Mountains, the more accurate a map you have, the less
likely you will crash. An Integral Approach insures that you are utilizing the full range of resources for any situation, with
the greater likelihood of success.
Second, if you learn to spot these 5 elements in your own awareness—and because they are there in any event—then you
can more easily appreciate them, exercise them, use them… and thereby vastly accelerate your own growth and
development to higher, wider, deeper ways of being. A simple familiarity with the 5 elements in the Integral Model will
help you orient yourself more easily and fully in this exciting journey of discovery and awakening.
integralMENTORS
32. Integral Theory - Quadrants‘Dimensions of Experience’ – the Quadrants:
“…the “I,” “we,” and “it” dimensions of experience really refer to art, morals, and science. Or self, culture, and
nature.
“The point is that every event in the manifest world has all 3 of
those dimensions. You can look at any event from the point of view
of the “I” (or how I personally see and feel about the event); from
the point of view of the “we” (how not just I but others see the
event); and as an “it” (or the objective facts of the event).
“Thus, an integrally view will take all of those dimensions into
account, and thus arrive at a more comprehensive and effective
approach—in the “I” and the “we” and the “it”—or in self and
culture and nature. If you leave out science, or leave out art, or leave
out morals, something is going to be missing, something will get
broken. Self and culture and nature are liberated together or not at
all. So fundamental are these dimensions of “I,” “we,” and “it” that
we call them the 4 quadrants, and we make them a foundation of
the integral framework or IOS. (We arrive at “4” quadrants by
subdividing “it” into singular “it” and plural “its.”)”.
“All 4 quadrants show growth, development, or evolution. That is, they all show some sort of stages or levels of
development, not as rigid rungs in a ladder but as fluid and flowing waves of unfolding. This happens everywhere in
the natural world, just as an oak unfolds from an acorn through stages of growth and development, or a Siberian
tiger grows from a fertilized egg to an adult organism in well-defined stages of growth and development. Likewise
with humans in certain important ways. In the Upper Left or “I,” for example, the self unfolds from egocentric to
ethnocentric to world-centric, or body to mind to spirit. In the Upper Right, felt energy phenomenologically
expands from gross to subtle to causal. In the Lower Left, the “we” expands from egocentric (“me”) to ethnocentric
(“us”) to world-centric (“all of us”). This expansion of group awareness allows social systems—in the Lower Right—
to expand from simple groups to more complex systems like nations and eventually even to global systems.
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
33. Integral Theory - Quadrants
all 4 quadrants need to be included if we want to be as integral as possible.”
Looking at each ‘dimension of Experience’ [quadrant] :
How each ‘dimension of experience’ is known:
In the UL Quadrant we find the individual interior or subjective
realities – and it manifests in this quadrant as “why I do what I
do” or simply what I experience.
This is known by felt experience.
In the UR Quadrant we find individual exterior or objective
realities – and it manifests in this quadrant as “what I do” or
‘how I behave’.
This is known by measurement.
In the LL Quadrant we find the collective interior or inter-
subjective realities - and it manifests in this quadrant as “why
we do what we do” or simply ‘what we experience’.
This is known by mutual resonance
In the LR Quadrant we find the collective exterior or inter-
objective realities - and it manifests in this quadrant as “what
we do” or simply ‘how we behave’.
This is known by Systemic analysis.
No individual (holon) can exist without being immersed in all
four of these perspective. – As an ‘I’.
Equally any item or situation can be viewed through these four
perspectives. – As an ‘It’.
integralMENTORS
34. Integral Theory - Quadrants
Examples :
The few examples given in the adj
‘dimensions’ manifest in each quad
the areas in each quadrant that w
bring about change or activiti
changed.
Example:
The few examples given in the
adjacent table indicates how
‘dimensions’ manifest in each
quadrant.
These are some of the areas in
each quadrant that would be
worked with to bring about
change or activities study/
investigation/change
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
35. Integral Theory - Quadrants
behavioural change.
Any development does need to go through each stage – there is to date no evidence
Context
The context of each quadrant
this content will be different fo
level.
What is important to note is th
nature of its investigation is ve
but in ‘reality’ they are not sep
whole.
Examples :
Context
The context of each quadrant is
different and the nature of this
content will be different for each
developmental stage or level.
It is important to note that the type
of content and the nature of its
investigation is very different in
each quadrant – but in ‘reality’ they
are not separate but tetra-meshed
into a whole
integralMENTORS
36. Integral Theory Quadrants
Praxis and Tools for change:
Each quadrant has a different set o
to bring about change.
Its is important to try and use tools
complement each other to reinforc
– tetra-meshing any activity. That i
changes then it is important to en
are in place to support this change
values (UL) and behaviour (UR) also
Other uses and understanding of the Quadrant Tool – but always remember that the differen
Praxis and Tools for Change
Each quadrant has a different set
of praxis or tools to bring about
change.
It is important to try and use tools
in each quadrant that
complement each other to
reinforce the change process;
tetra-meshing any activity. That is
if Culture (LL) is to be changed,
then it is important to ensure that
the systems are in place to
support this change (LR) – that
individual values (UL) and
behaviour (UR) also activated to
support this change.
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
37. Integral Theory Quadrants
19
to expand from simple groups to more complex systems like nations and eventually even to global systems.
“Notice that every “I” is in relationship with other I’s, which means that every “I” is a member of numerous we’s.
These “We’s” represent not just individual but group (or collective) consciousness, not just subjective but
intersubjective awareness—or culture in the broadest sense. This is indicated in the Lower-Left quadrant. Likewise,
IntegralMENTORS Guides – [basic]
every “we” has an exterior, or what it looks like from the outside, and this is the Lower-Right quadrant. The Lower
Left is often called the cultural dimension (or the inside awareness of the group—its worldview, its shared values,
shared feelings, and so forth), and the Lower Right the social dimension (or the exterior forms and behaviors of the
group, which are studied by 3rd-person sciences such as systems theory).
“Again, the quadrants are simply the inside and the outside of the individual and the collective, and the point is that
all 4 quadrants need to be included if we want to be as integral as possible.”
Looking at each ‘dimension of Experience’ [quadrant] : integralMENTORS
38. Quadrants and Quadrivia
Quadrants
Holon/ Sentient being
Artefact
Quadrivia
I possess 4 quadrants; the painting can be looked at through the 4 quadrants (which then constitute a
quadrivia). Or in general: the perceiving subject has quadrants, which must be specified as part of its
Kosmic address; and the perceived object, referent, or phenomenon has a quadrivium, which must be
specified as part of its Kosmic address.
Another way to say it—more loosely—is that because an object is being looked at through or from a
particular quadrant, then the subject is looking at the object through a quadrant, and the object itself
exists “in” a quadrant. In both cases, the quadrant of the perceiver and the quadrant (quadrivium) of
the perceived must be specified for the Kosmic address of the referent to be known
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
42. Mapping Interventions – Quadrants
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
Individual
Interior-Subjective
Collective
Interior-Intersubjective
Individual
Exterior-Objective
Collective
Exterior-Interobjective
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
43. Mapping Interventions Ego Centric
Ego-
C
entric
M
agical
Pre-rational
Tribal
Foraging/
Horticulture
Early
nations
A
grarian
PostPost-rational/
PostPost-M
odern
Integral
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
Individual
Interior-Subjective
Collective
Interior-Intersubjective
Individual
Exterior-Objective
Collective
Exterior-Interobjective
integralMENTORS
44. Mapping Interventions – Ethno Centric
Ego-
C
entric
M
agical
Pre-rational
Tribal
Foraging/
Horticulture
Ethno-
C
entric
M
ythic
Early
nations
A
grarian
Pre-rational
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
Individual
Interior-Subjective
Collective
Interior-Intersubjective
Individual
Exterior-Objective
Collective
Exterior-Interobjective
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
45. Mapping Interventions – World centric
Ego-
C
entric
M
agical
Pre-rational
Tribal
Foraging/
Horticulture
Ethno-
C
entric
M
ythic
Early
nations
A
grarian
W
orld-
C
entric
Rational
C
orporate
states
Industrial
Rational
Pre-rational
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
Individual
Interior-Subjective
Collective
Interior-Intersubjective
Individual
Exterior-Objective
Collective
Exterior-Interobjective
integralMENTORS
46. Mapping Interventions – Planet centric
Ego-
C
entric
M
agical
Pre-rational
Tribal
Foraging/
Horticulture
Ethno-
C
entric
M
ythic
Early
nations
A
grarian
W
orld-
C
entric
Rational
C
orporate
states
Industrial
Rational
Planet-
C
entric
Pluralistic
Value
com
m
unities
Late
industrial/
Early
inform
ational
Post-rational/
Post M
odern
Pre-rational
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
Individual
Interior-Subjective
Collective
Interior-Intersubjective
Individual
Exterior-Objective
Collective
Exterior-Interobjective
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
47. Mapping Interventions – Kosmic centric
Ego-
C
entric
M
agical
Pre-rational
Tribal
Foraging/
Horticulture
Ethno-
C
entric
M
ythic
Early
nations
A
grarian
W
orld-
C
entric
Rational
C
orporate
states
Industrial
Rational
Planet-
C
entric
Pluralistic
Value
com
m
unities
Late
industrial/
Early
inform
ational
Post-rational/
Post M
odern
K
osm
ic-
C
entric
Integralcom
m
ons
G
lobalcom
m
unity
Inform
ational
PostPost-rational/
PostPost-M
odern
Integral
Pre-rational
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
Individual
Interior-Subjective
Collective
Interior-Intersubjective
Individual
Exterior-Objective
Collective
Exterior-Interobjective
integralMENTORS
50. Tetra-meshing
The act whereby a ‘holon’ meshes or fits with the selection pressures of all four quadrants.
In order to tetra-mesh, each holon must to some degree be able to register its own exterior accurately
enough (truth), its own interior accurately enough (truthfulness), understand its cultural milieu (mutual
understanding)’ and fit within its social system (functional fit) – meaning that all four selection pressures
must be dealt with adequately in order for a holon to evolve.
Self & Consciousness Brain & Organism
Systems & EnvironmentCulture & Worldview Cultural Social
Intentional Behavioural
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
51. Tetra-meshing
Waste Disposal systems
Communities Cultural views or Mindset on Waste Disposal
Individuals Behaviour to Waste Disposal
Individuals beliefs/mindset on Waste Disposal
communities Dominant Mode of Discourse
possible communication levels
individuals Centre of Gravity
depending on CoG possible obstacles to change
current ways of use
obstacles to use/change
current system
choices of systems available
Rio de Janeiro
Olympic preparations
for Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) 2014
integralMENTORS
52. Tetra-meshing
Rio de Janeiro
Olympic preparations
for Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) 2014
Communities Cultural views or Mindset on Waste Disposal
Individuals beliefs/mindset on Waste Disposal
individuals Centre of Gravity
depending on CoG possible obstacles to change
Waste Disposal systems
Individuals Behaviour to Waste Disposal
communities Dominant Mode of Discourse
possible communication levels
current ways of use
obstacles to use/change
current system
choices of systems available
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
53. Rio de Janeiro
Olympic preparations
for Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) 2014
Tetra-meshing
Persons beliefs/mindset
on Waste Disposal
Waste Disposal systems –
in place and proposed
Cultural views on
Waste Disposal
Persons Behaviour to
Waste Disposal
Culture
- worldviews
Creations
- systems
- infrastructure
Capacities
- Competences
- Behaviour
Consciousness
- intention
- mindsets
integralMENTORS
60. Zones
Zone #1 : States of individual consciousness surface structure - the feel
Zone #2 : Stage-Structure of individual development deep structure – the look
Zone #3 : States of ‘cultural’ development surface structure - the feel
Zone #4 : State-Structure communal development deep structure – the look
Zone #5 : States of individual communication surface structure – the ‘software
Zone #6 : State-Structure of individual control deep structure – the hardware’
Zone #7 : State of communal communication surface structure – the ‘software’
Zone #8 : State-Structure of governance/systems deep structure – the hardware’
66. Lines of Development
Some major lines of Development
Selman, Perry
What is my cultural dominant mode of discourse
What is my societal Systems Stage (agricultural, industrial, informational, …)
Context
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
68. Understanding Stages & Lines of Development
Kosmic Address Myth of the GivenDominant Mode of Discourse
Values
Self-identity
Cognitive
Moral
Spiritual
M
indset-Altitude
Centre
of Gravity
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
76. Understanding Action Logic
Stratified levels of development
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
77. Understanding Action Logic
Stratified levels of development
7.0%
27.5%
39.5%
14.0%
8.5%
3.5%
67.0%
Source - Rooke and Torbert’s 2006 Harvard Business Review article : Seven Transformations of Leadership. From a sample of 1000 leaders in N
America & Europe
I
N
T
E
G
R
A
L
Global Interdependence
Integrated Consciousness
Powerful Self
Conventional Order
Enterprising Self
Pluralistic Consensus
Alchemist
Pluralist/
Individualist/
Sensitive self
integralMENTORS
79. Understanding Action Logic
Source - Rooke and Torbert’s 2006 Harvard Business Review article : Seven Transformations of Leadership. From a sample of 1000 leaders in N America & Europe
Alchemist
Pluralist/
Sensitive Self
integralMENTORS
80. Self/Values Stages of Development
Alchemist
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
84. Stratified Leaders and Quadrants Favoured
Opportunist Diplomat Expert Achiever
Individualist/Pluralist Strategist Alchemist
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
86. Tetra-Meshing the Developmental Journey
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
87. Lines of Development - Nine Intelligences
Inter-personal
Existential
Intra-personal
Naturalist
Kinesthetic
Spatial
Linguistic
Logic
Musical
9 Multiple Intelligences - Howard Gardner
integralMENTORS
89. Integral Theory - Types
Types simply refers to items that can be present at virtually any stage or state.
One common typology, for example, is the Myers-Briggs (whose main types are feeling,
thinking, sensing, and intuiting).
You can be any of those types at virtually any stage of development.
These kind of “horizontal typologies” can be very useful, especially when combined with
levels, lines, and states.
integralMENTORS
94. Centre of Gravity
Magenta
Individual - Centre of GravityAltitude
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
98. Dominant Mode of Discourse
Socio-cultural
Dominant Mode of Discourse
[Orange]
Green
Orange
Amber
Teal
Turquoise
Magenta
Red
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
99. Dominant Mode of Discourse
Socio-cultural
Dominant Mode of Discourse
[Orange]
Green
Orange
Amber
Teal
Turquoise
Magenta
Red
integralMENTORS
102. Magenta
• Through imitation and repetition
• Animistic analogies - fairy-tales, cartoons and animal metaphors
• Chants, dances, rhythm music, rituals
• Practical kinesthetics
• Learning what the Tribe learns is a major driver
The relationship with the “teacher” is critical - that person must be a mystical,
shamanistic figure
Magenta
2-8
years
Exit
Magenta
Learning by modelling is still important - but satisfaction of the embryonic ego will also
influence what is learned
Enter
Red
Red
• Instant results - pain or punishment
• No threats - only promises of certain outcomes
• Hands-on action learning - the opportunity to experience it for themselves
• What is learned needs to be immediately relevant to the circumstances the
individual perceives him/herself to be in
Respect for the “teacher” as a hero figure is important - but the teacher must
also show respect back to the blossoming egos
Red
9-12
years
Exit
Red
What pleases (or is immediately relevant) is still central but there is also some desire
now to know what the procedures for learning are - and that leads to WHAT should be
learned
Enter
Amber
Amber
• Acceptance of Truth from the Higher Authority
• Prescriptive teaching/learning - following set procedures
• Right/wrong feedback - testing on the learning
The work set will be done because it is “the correct thing to do” - but don’t
expect imagination in the work or more than is set
Amber
13-17
years
Exit
Amber Self-motivation starts to emerge - though learning procedures are still necessary
Enter
Orange
Spiral Learning & Education
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
103. Orange • Developing future sense with possibilities of multiple outcomes
• Trial-and-error experiments to achieve anticipated outcomes
• Opportunities to analyse and improve - particularly via technology
• Complete self-motivation to achieve the desired future outcome(s)
The “teacher” is now a resource to be used
Orange
18+
years
Exit
Orange
Broader concerns now start to emerge and there is a need to make sure everybody is
getting opportunities
Enter
Green
Green
• Bigger picture thinking and emotional responsiveness
• What is important can be subject to consensus
• Learning from peers/group learning
• Personal development/development of self - within the group
The “teacher’s” job is to facilitate the development of the group and individuals
within the group
Green18+
years
Exit
Green
Enter
Teal
Teal Teal50+
Exit
Teal
Enter
Turquoise
60+
Spiral Learning & Education
integralMENTORS
104. Developmental Potential
Philosophy Beliefs Attitudes Relationships
Generative Do for all in a way
that best serves all
Organisations are
consciously evolving
social organisms
We are for each
other and the whole
Co-operative
Evoking genius
Mutually
nourishing
Sustainable Do unto others as
you would have
them do unto you
Organisations are
living systems
We are all in this
together
Caring
Appreciative
High integrity
Compliant Do unto others in
a way that is fair
Ideal organisation is
a well oiled machine
You scratch my back
……
Respectful
Purposeful
Honest
Dysfunctional Do it to others
before they do it
to you
People are the
problem
I will use you Disrespectful
Dishonest
Discounting
Toxic Do others in
before they do
you in
Might makes right I will defeat you Attacking
Blaming
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
110. Integral Theory - Shadow
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker
and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant
intentions.” C. G. Jung*
“Yet there is a mystery here, and it is not one that I understand: Without this sting of otherness, of –
even – the vicious, without the terrible energies of the underside of health, sanity, sense, then nothing
works or can work. I tell you that goodness – what we in our ordinary daylight selves call goodness: the
ordinary, the decent – these are nothing without the hidden powers that pour forth continually from
their shadow sides.” Doris Lessing*
From: Working with Shadow in International Development – iMentors Discussion paper [043] - Anne
Cowen : integralMENTORS Fellow and Director of Meshfield
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
118. Holon Evolution – 20 Tenets
1. Reality as a whole is not composed of things or
processes, but of holons
2. Holons display four fundamental capacities:
self-preservation; self-adaptation
self-transcendence; self-dissolution
3. Holons emerge
4. Holons emerge holarchically
5. Each emergent holon transcends but includes its
predecessors(s)
6. The lower sets the possibilities of the higher; the
higher sets the probabilities of the lower.
7. The number of levels of which a ‘hierarchy’
comprises determines whether it is ‘shallow’ or
‘deep’; and the number of holons on any given
level we shall call its span
8. Each successive level of evolution produces
greater depth and less span
9. Destroy any type of holon, and you will destroy all
of the holons above it and none of the holons
below it
10. Holarchies co-evolve
11. The micro is in relational exchange with the macro
at all levels of its depth
12. Evolution is directional
(13.) Increasing in complexity
(14.) Increasing differentiation/integration
(15.) Increasing organisation/structuration
(16.) Increasing relative autonomy
(17.) Increasing telos
18. The greater the depth of a holon, the greater its
degree of consciousness
19. Every holon issues an IOU to the Kosmos
20. All IOUs are redeemed in emptiness
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
119. Myth of the Given
Perhaps the most difficult thing for green to understand is that its values — peace,
harmony, healing, transformation, sharing, feeling, embodiment — are values
shared only by green. They are not values shared by magenta, red, amber, orange,
teal, turquoise, indigo, or violet.
If I want to transform the world, implicit in that desire is the assumption, “You are
screwed up, but I know what you need.” This imposition of my values on you is a
subtle violence of values.
The point is that different world-spaces contain different phenomena. It is not a
matter of saying which worldspace is the “real” worldspace, because any age will
always feel that its view is the real view.
But there is no “real” or “pre-given” world, only these various world-spaces that
creatively evolve and unfold in novel ways, then settle into Kosmic habits that then
must be negotiated by all subsequent humans as stages in their own unfolding
and levels in their own compound individuality.
integralMENTORS
120. Kosmic Address
There is not a pre-given material world that is apprehended equally by beings.
What is apprehended depends on a being’s Kosmic address,
- a “worldview location” that specifies what arises in the experience of a sentient being
based on two fundamental aspects within the AQAL matrix: altitude and perspective.
- Altitude refers to the level of developmental complexity of the sentient being while
- Perspective refers to the particular perspective within the quadrants or zones it is taking.
Intrinsic features of Kosmos are themselves not pre-given but are in part, interpretive and
constructed.
The “location” of a “real object” in the AQAL matrix, including its altitude (i.e., degree of
development) and its perspective (i.e., the quadrant in which it resides).
Kosmic address = altitude + perspective
Kosmic address = (altitude + perspective)S x (altitude + perspective)O
Kosmic address = (altitude + quadrant) x (altitude + quadrivium)
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
121. Integral Theory : Self-as-Instrument (SAI)
Where do we operate from in each Quadrant – that is which Stage or Level? Which Lines and what
Centre of Gravity, which State of so many and what Types do we incorporate in our activities? This will
define our ‘Talk and our Walk. Unless our Talk and Walk don’t align to a fair degree, we will be unable to
understand our own actions and this brings our own baggage into our interventions. Self-as-Instrument
requires a this alignment – our Centre of Gravity will then determine at which level we can operate with
others and their Centre of Gravity or in a group - their Dominant Mode of Discourse will determine how
we operate.
A Walk on the wild side
An often-asked question: “is Integral just another paradigm or fad and why do we ‘use’ it so much in
our development work” –the answer is usually “No, it’s an injunction or a holarchy of injunctions – not
taken as a belief system but as an injunction to put into practice. If it helps you understand what you are
doing more clearly and if it helps you become a more ‘whole’ and ‘competent’ practitioner then use it -
if not, then move on.” We always stress that we use it with a ‘large but light embrace’ - and continually
test the theoria in praxis.
integralMENTORS
124. Learning Cycle
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
125. Assessing Environmental Capacity Using the Quadrants
Interior (“soft”) Exterior (“hard”).
Personal
capacities:
Capacities that allow for a
greater self awareness and
empowerment, capacity for
moral care, capacity for
mental models for
understanding complex
issues.
Interpersonal
capacities:
Capacities to engage
meaningful relationships, to
foster new cultural trends,
social norms, and social
discourse.
Systemic
capacities:
Capacities to effect systemic
change, be it societal,
ecological, political, etc, such
as policy dialogue, advocacy,
scientific research.
Technical
capacities:
Capacities for undertaking
practical work, such as for
sustainable resource use and
land use practices.
Capacity
Development
integralMENTORS
126. Assessing Environmental Capacity Using the Quadrants
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
129. Integral Governance
Development is Envelopment
AQAL MATRIX and Political Scales
Major:
1. internal/external (nature/nurture); also largely Left/Right
2. individual/collective (individual/social holons)
3. transformation/translation (progressive/conservative, Eros/
Agape)
4. altitude/levels (levels/lines)
Minor:
5. lines (esp. walk and talk)
6. agency/communion (autonomy/relationship)
7. progression/regression (upward/downward transformation)
8. stages/stations (developmental levels informing UL adult
lifeworld)
9. regulator (governing system)
Ken Wilber: Politics, part 3—being an excerpt from the forthcoming
trilogy, The Many Faces of Terrorism 2007
integralMENTORS
130. Case Studies
Effective Schools Project – Egypt 2005/07
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
134. Case Studies
UNICEF Transformation & Change 1995 - 1997
People do not perceive worlds but enact them. Different mindsets bring forth different worlds.
137. Paul van Schaik
Founder - IntegralMENTORS; Co-Founder/Director - Integral Without Borders (Integral International Development Centre); Chief Knowledge
Officer of the ThriveAbility Foundation; Principal Associate/Founder of iSchaik Development Associates, and Founding member of the Integral
Institute.
He has 40+ year experience of working in international development – with extensive experience in the education, health, and infrastructure
sectors.
As Principal Associate of iSchaik Development Associates he worked with national governments, bilateral and multilateral development
organisations and international NGOs to bring an Integrally informed approach to program development, implementation and evaluation,
either directly or through the training of operational staff. He has been an Advisor and Consultant to DFID UK, Danida Denmark, European
Commission, KfW/GTZ Germany, Sida Sweden, UNICEF, World Bank among others with extensive experience of working in Asia, Africa, Europe
and Middle East.
As mentor he works with individuals and small groups to develop a deeper understanding of Integral praxis and to become more integrally
informed practitioners. He has co-hosted Integral without Borders gatherings in Perpignan, France in 2006 and in Istanbul, Turkey in 2008 and
2010 and in South Africa 2012.
He is a UK trained Architect with extensive global experience doing pioneering work with passive solar energy in the 1970/90s in Africa and
Australia, working with the award winning team for the Burrell Museum in Glasgow and has tutored at the Architectural Association School of
Architecture, London.
Currently he is an Integral Mentor, an International Development Advisor, and Chief Knowledge Officer of the ThriveAbility Foundation.
See also www.facebook.com/integralMENTORS
https://www.facebook.com/IntegralUrbanHub/
http://paulvanschaik.wixsite.com/integralmentors (draft website)
Books
Guides for Integrally Informed Practitioners (Volume 1) – BASIC
Guides for Integrally Informed Practitioners (Volume 2) – ADVANCED
Urban Hub ThriveAble Cities Series