I briefly mentioned Spiral Dynamics in a recent podcast episode, just a reference, but it caught people’s attention. I did not have time to give details, but since I use this framework a lot, I decided to share how I use it in practice.
Spiral Dynamics is not a new concept and is widely used. Many of us working in leadership, culture or organizational development have come across it. What is more useful now is not explaining the theory again but looking at what it tells us when we walk into a company and start noticing the tone, the structure, the conversations behind the doors.
Spiral Dynamics is one of my favorite topics, where I not only teach, but more something I use intensively. Often silently. It sits in the background as I step into organizations, run leadership retreats or coach management teams. It helps me notice what is going on under the surface, understand the background of resistance and estimate what kind of change will be applicable and what is too early to implement.
Below I give some highlights, covering the most common levels in my practice.
The Survival of the Loudest
You feel it the moment you enter. Decisions are made emotionally, often impulsively and mostly by one or two powerful individuals. Employees have a choice – either obey or leave. It is reactive, chaotic, sometimes even brilliant, but almost always unsustainable and volcanic.
Two years ago, I worked with a company that was growing, mostly on paper. Inside it was Red energy all around. The founder was the only decision-maker. People were hired based on loyalty rather than competence. The HR manager told me, “I do nothing without his approval, not even birthday cards.” Sounds familiar right?
What I notice:
• Employees avoid eye contact when the leader enters the room
• Everything is urgent and personal
• There is little or no delegation, only execution
• Conversations are driven by status or authority, not expertise
• Fear in the room during leadership meetings
• No structure, just direct orders and reactions
• Everyone worked and talked long hours but avoided responsibility
• Middle managers had no voice or confidence
What helps:
Instead of trendy trainings or leadership development course (which initially I was asked to do), you do small steps. You should not walk into Red with big talk about purpose or collaboration. You start by establishing simple, non-threatening systems: formal job descriptions, weekly planning meetings, delegation of basic approval process that did not require the CEO involvement. A respectful shift from personality-based leadership to position-based structure. It is slow work, but foundational.
The Land of Order
Blue is calmer and much more resistant to change. It values structure, traditions, and doing things the “right way” (attention: not always “right things”). Many long-established organizations live here. Loyalty is high, but there is small place for innovation.
In one long-established institution I consulted, the culture was deeply Blue. Hierarchical, polite and predictable. Employees were following protocols. Any suggestion of change was politely postponed by “We will review that next year.” When I asked HR why a certain form had 7 signatures, she said “Because it was like that before I joined the company”. Hmm…
What I notice:
• Rules are followed even when they do not make any sense
• People are polite and passive
• Change proposals get lost in approval processes
• Seniority matters more than competence
• Staff fears making mistakes more than missing opportunities
• Initiatives are on wait line
• New hires feel tired within weeks
• A sense of duty but little passion
What helps:
Start by asking questions, not pushing answers. Help people reflect on why they do things a certain way. Bring in small, safe experiments that do not feel like threats. Like “innovation groups” from different subdivisions, small pilots that worked independently on new projects without protocols. For example, a young temporary team of new hires together with HR team redesigning their onboarding process. But we should keep the language respectful, “improvements” not “change management.” Framing made all the difference, because you do not need resilience.
Performance First
Orange is fast, ambitious and strategic. I see it often in startups scaling quickly or in result-driven departments of large companies. There is energy, metrics and a constant rush to reach the next target. People are smart, competitive …and often exhausted.
I once coached the top management of a tech company that had scaled fast. They were pure Orange – ambitious, data-driven, future-focused. The CEO used the word “results” 10 times in his public talk. The team was sharp and overworked. But…I could see burnout hiding behind the dashboards.
What I notice:
• Dashboards, KPIs, OKRs everywhere
• Recognition tied to outcomes, not effort or ethics
• Leaders speak in “data” and “growth” more than “people”
• Lots of energy, little reflection
• A culture of hyper-responsibility, no one wants to seem “soft”
• Leaders jump to solutions without pausing to reflect
• High performance, low resilience
What helps:
Orange does not need more goals, it needs grounding. Purpose conversations work well here, as do leadership development programs that go beyond strategy into values and self-awareness.
Yes, I mean leadership retreats not focused on strategy, but on who they are as a team and what kind of leaders they want to be. Using coaching techniques, personal reflections and shared moments of being together in silence. One leader told me – “This is the first time in two years I have been allowed to think, not perform”. That moment changed his team culture completely. Here I often introduce self- reflection and group coaching frameworks not as soft topics but as strategic investments. That language works with Orange.
The Harmony Trap
Green can be beautiful and a bit stuck. It is all about inclusiveness, dialogue, fairness. I have worked with Green teams that had incredible trust and loyalty but could not decide without three follow-up meetings. Consensus sometimes becomes a big problem.
At the small agency I supported, the team was non-hierarchical. Everyone had a voice, including the intern on her second day. It was warm, emotional, value driven. And often frustrating. Projects ran late, a lot of voices and opinions with difficulty to make good quality decisions.
What I notice:
• Everything is discussed. Sometimes twice. Sometimes dozen times
• Titles are not emphasized and teams are flat
• Emotions are welcomed, but not always processed constructively
• Conflict avoidance hides behind the belief that “we are a family”
• Endless discussions, few conclusions
• Leadership roles uncertain or denied
• Everyone cared deeply, but lacked direction
• Decision-making challenge
What helps:
Here, clarity is a gift. Green does not need more conversation (it has it a lot), it needs proper frameworks for decision making and action. Here, I often use facilitation techniques that help teams make fast decisions. And step by step make it a habit. Bringing back role clarity, reinforcing accountability structures, and separating nice from necessary is a key. I mean for Greens.
What I Pay Attention To in General
When I enter an organization, I rarely ask, “What level are they at?” Instead, I notice:
• Who speaks in meetings and who does not
• How people respond to uncertainty
• What gets rewarded (loyalty? speed? obedience?)
• How conflict is handled and by whom
• Whether hierarchy is feared, respected or denied
A Few Final Notes
Most organizations are not fully one color. I have seen Red leaders inside Orange teams. I have seen Blue HR departments in Green companies… But the dominant tone matters, it tells me how far I can stretch, how much I can challenge, and what kind of invitation will be accepted.
But sensing the dominant tone helps. It shapes how I approach leadership coaching, culture change, reorganizations or even the way I design a workshop. I do not go in with a fixed plan – I tune in and adapt.
Spiral Dynamics is not about labeling. It is about matching your message to the moment.
You can not rush a Blue organization into Green or a Red team into Orange. But you can sense what they are ready for and offer the next step forward. That is what I try to do. Not to teach the spiral, but to walk it with them.
If this resonates, or if you have seen similar patterns in your own practice, I would love to hear from you. What level do you see most often? And what helped you to shift it?
Let’s keep the conversation going.
