Integral Leadership: the Graves values model

The Graves Values Model after Abraham Maslow and Clare Graves

Abraham Maslow, one of the first psychologists to look at psychologically healthy adults, believed that Self-Actualisation represented the highest level of need and provided the "Healthy person's" prime motivation. Clare Graves attempted to verify Maslow's work. He interviewed over a thousand of his students and asked them what they perceived as a healthy adult. He began to realise that values develop in response to environmental conditions that are moulded by our values and so on. He also discovered eight different ways in which people perceive psychological health and that these eight levels are developmental. Much more research has been done since, initially and predominantly by Don Beck and Chris Cowan, which confirms Graves' theory.

The eight levels identified by Graves can be summarised as follows:

Level 1: Beige (Reactive / Survival Sense) - Sharpen instincts and innate senses
Level 2: Purple (Tribal / KinSpirits) - Seek harmony and safety in a mysterious world
Level 3: Red (Egocentric / PowerGods) - Express impulsively, break free, be strong
Level 4: Blue (Absolutistic / TruthForce) - Find purpose, bring order and ensure future
Level 5: Orange (Materialistic / StriveDrive) - Analyse and strategise to prosper
Level 6: Green (Personalistic / HumanKind) - Explore inner self, equalise others
Level 7: Yellow (Existential / FlexFlow) - Integrate and align systems
Level 8: Turquoise (Holistic Organism / GlobalView) - Synergise and macromanage