Don Edward Beck (January 1, 1937 - May 24, 2022) was a teacher, geopolitical advisor, and theorist focusing on applications of large scale psychology, including
social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...
,
evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evol ...
,
organizational psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...
and their effect on human
sociocultural system
A sociocultural system is a "human population viewed ouyess(1) in its ecological context and (2) as one of the many subsystems of a larger ecological system".
The term "sociocultural system" embraces three concepts: society, culture, and system. ...
s. He is the co-author of the
Spiral Dynamics theory, an evolutionary human development model adapted from the work of his mentor and colleague,
developmental psychologist
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult developmen ...
Clare W. Graves, Professor Emeritus in Psychology at
Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
in New York, with whom he worked for over a decade.
Education and academia
Beck received a B.A from
Abilene Christian College
Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Southwestern United States and has one of th ...
in 1958 and his M.A in Theology and Communication from the same institution a year later in 1959. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Communication and Social Psychology with a focus on large scale systems dynamics and change in 1966 by the
University of Oklahoma
, mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State"
, type = Public research university
, established =
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.7billion (2021)
, pr ...
. His dissertation was on the psychological forces that produced the American Civil War.
Beck has held positions at institutions including various roles in the speech and drama department at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) from 1961 to 1981,
Adjunct Professor at Conoco Corporate University from 1998 to 1999, and Adjunct Instructor at Adizes Graduate School from 2000 to the end of his life.
In 1974, while working as a professor at North Texas State, Beck encountered an article by Graves in
''The Futurist''. He contacted Graves, and at the latter's invitation and flew to New York to meet him in 1975. After two days of dialogues, Beck decided to record Graves' knowledge, as the latter's health was deteriorating.
Beck and Graves were later joined by North Texas State faculty member Christopher Cowan. Both Beck and Cowan left North Texas State in 1981 to work with Graves full-time, which they continued to do until Graves's death in 1986.
Spiral Dynamics
Beck and Cowan further developed Graves's
emergent cyclical theory Graves's emergent cyclical levels of existence (E-C theory or ECLET) is a theory of adult human development constructed from experimental data by Union College professor of psychology Clare W. Graves. It produces an open-ended series of levels, Co ...
and presented a structured evolutionary model of adaptive intelligence called Spiral Dynamics. They first published their construct in ''Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change (Exploring the New Science of Memetics)'' (1996). Through these value systems, groups and cultures structure their societies and individuals integrate within them. Each distinct set of values is developed as a response to solving the problems of the previous system. Changes between states may occur incrementally (first order change) or in a sudden breakthrough (second order change).
Beck and Cowan founded the National Values Center (NVC) in
Denton, Texas
Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...
in 1979
Spiral Dynamics (SD) and Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi)
Cowan filed to register "Spiral Dynamics" as a service mark in 1998, while Beck wanted to keep the name open for academic use. The two parted ways in 1999, with Beck continuing to use the Spiral Dynamics name for the next couple of years.
[ Butters (2015), p. 71]
Beck had been drawn to the work of
Integral theorist Ken Wilber
Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American philosopher and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a philosophy which suggests the synthesis of all human knowledge and experience.
Life and career
Wilbe ...
,
whose book
A Theory of Everything
''A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality'' is a 2000 book by Ken Wilber detailing the author's approach, called Integral theory
Integral theory is a synthetic metatheory developed by Ken W ...
(2000) incorporated Beck and Cowan's Spiral Dynamics as a "core element" alongside Wilber's
AQAL framework.
By 2001, Beck began equating NVC with his new Spiral Dynamics Group, which featured early mentions of Spiral Dynamics Integral. In the last weeks of 2001, Beck announced Spiral Dynamics Integral (SDi). In the announcement, he credited Wilber with significantly increasing the level of interest in Spiral Dynamics, and also cited the influence of John Petersen of the Arlington Institute and
Ichak Adizes
Ichak Kalderon Adizes ( ) is a Yugoslav American business consultant and former tenured professor.
Early life
Ichak Adizes was born in North Macedonia. As a Jewish child during World War II, he hid in Albania as a Muslim for protection. The story ...
.
By 2005, Beck's working relationship with Wilber had also disintegrated as Beck felt that Wilber had distorted the Spiral Dynamics/Gravesian model. Wilber subsequently de-emphasized SDi, and recolored its levels to fit his spiritual emphasis.
Center for Human Emergence
The Center for Human Emergence is a
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
founded in 2004 that emphasizes the scientific understanding of cultures and their evolutionary context.
Beck, in close collaboration with Teddy Hebo Larsen, established the first center for Human Emergence in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May, 2004.
Beck made a number of trips to the Netherlands, starting with work for the Dutch telecom company
KPN
KPN (in full Koninklijke KPN N.V., also Royal KPN N.V.) is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
History Un ...
in the 1990s, including consulting to the Dutch Police force (2004) and leading to the establishment by Peter Merry of the second Center for Human Emergence in the Netherlands in 2005. He continued to support the Dutch Center for Human Emergence, including in the setting up of the Hague Center.
In 2005, Beck, Elza Maalouf, and Said E. Dawlabani created The Center for Human Emergence Middle East (CHE-ME), a non-profit think tank through which his engagement in the region was sponsored. Beck and Maalouf held meetings and trainings hosted in Israel, speaking to the Arab Governor of
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
, Salah Al Taamari; three members of the
Palestinian Legislative Council and presenting to 40 city council members, government employees, and professors from
Bethlehem University
Bethlehem University ( ar, جامعة بيت لحم) is a Catholic university in the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank, Palestine. It is the first university founded in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
History
Established under Israel ...
.
As senior adviser to The Center for Human Emergence Middle East, Beck and the center's CEO Elza Maalouf founded the Build Palestine Initiative, focused on the value systems alignment for a two state solution.
Beck and Maalouf presented to the Values Caucus at the United Nations on June 21, 2007, regarding approaches to global governance
Consulting career
Beck made more than 36 trips to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
between 1981 and 1988. On May 3, 1995, both houses of the
Texas State Legislature
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
(Beck's home state) adopted a resolution (S.R. No. 901) presented by the President of the Texas Senate which commends Beck "for his invaluable contributions toward the peaceful creation of a democratic South Africa."
Beck has worked with the Denton Police Department, the Texas Department of Human Services, and the cities of Plano, Grapevine, and Colleyville. He has also consulted for companies including
Southwest Airlines and
Whole Foods
Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...
. He worked with the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...
and the South African
Springboks
The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...
rugby team. He also wrote a "Sports Values" column in ''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...
'' in 1997–98.
Additional books, audio, video, publications
*Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanity's Master Code. By Don Edward Beck et al. Wiley, 2018.
*Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership, and Change, by Don Beck and Christopher Cowan, 1996, 2005, Wiley/Blackwell,
*The Crucible: Forging South Africa's Future, by Don Beck and Graham Linscott, 1991, New Paradigm Press,
* The Master Code and Integral Politics in Polarized America, by Don E. Beck, Integral Leadership Review, March 2013
*Don Beck: In Quest of the Master Code, at the Inside Edge Foundation, February, 2012, video
* Don Beck: Spiral Dynamics Integral. Sounds True, Boulder, 2006
*Don Beck at the Transformational Leadership Symposium, November 20–21, 2009, video
*Changing the World and Work, ABC National Radio (interview transcript) with Dr. Rachel Kohn
"Changing the World and Work"
ABC National Radio (interview transcript) with Dr. Rachel Kohn, March 7, 2004
*Conversations with Great Thinkers and Practitioners of Our Times: Dr. Don Beck: Spiral Dynamics: A Challenge To Leadership, produced by Clearfire Media (DVD), 2006, ASIN: B000GGS0VE
*Leap into the Future: Leadership for the 21st Century, with Andrew Cohen and Don Beck, produced by EnlightenNext (DVD), 2004, ASIN: B000O7SX12
References
*
*
External links
The Spiral Dynamics Group
(Beck's SDi site)
Center for Human Emergence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Don
American management consultants
21st-century American psychologists
Integral theory (Ken Wilber)
2022 deaths
1937 births
20th-century American psychologists