Richard Barrett

The SEVEN LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The model is an extension and adaptation of

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs.

It provides a framework for understanding the

stages in the development of both individual

and group consciousness.

The model covers both the internal dimensions

of consciousness ‐ our inner journey into

self‐knowledge and meaning, and the external

dimensions of consciousness – the gradual

expansion of our sense of identity in terms of

who and what we care about in our lives

By 1998, the model was complete and was

being used as the foundation of the Cultural

Transformation

Tools (CTT) to

map the values

of organizations,

and their

leaders.

1. Changed the model from needs to consciousness

2. Expanded the concept of self‐actualisation

3. Re‐labelled the basic needs

4. Developed a way of using the model as a measurement instrument

Barrett realised that when people have

underlying anxieties or subconscious fears

about one of their basic needs, their

subconscious remains focused on that

need.

For example, there are people who are never

satisfied with the amount of money they

earn, even though they are wealthy. These

people are not operating from need: they

are operating from survival consciousness

Barrett expanded the concept of

self‐actualisation by recognising this as a

four‐stage process.

1. Stage of Individuation: we establish a sense of

our own personal authority and our own voice

2. Stage of Internal Cohesion : we uncover the

transcendent meaning to our lives

3. Stage of Making a Difference: we are able to

actualise our sense of meaning by creating

positive change in the world.

4. Stage of Service: when making a difference

becomes a way of life.

Barrett changed the names of the basic

needs by grouping:

―physiological‖ and ―safety‖ needs into

Survival Consciousness

re‐labelling ―love and belonging‖ as

Relationship Consciousness.

Applications for IndividualsSeven Levels of Personal Consciousness (PDF) Seven Levels of Human Motivation (PDF)Seven Levels of Leadership Consciousness (PDF)

Applications for Groups Seven Levels of Organisational Consciousness (PDF)Seven Levels of Government/Municipal Agency Consciousness (PDF)Seven Levels of Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO) Consciousness (PDF)Seven Levels of Societal Consciousness (PDF)Seven Levels of School Consciousness (PDF)Seven Levels of Team Consciousness (PDF)

Our values reflect what is important to us.

They are a shorthand way of describing our

individual and collective motivations.

Together with beliefs, they are the causal

factors that drive our decision-making.

Values can be Positive or Potentially Limiting.

Positive values are known as virtues. These are

the values that emanate from the soul. (honesty,

trust and accountability )

Potentially limiting values emanate from the

conscious or subconscious fear-based beliefs of

the ego. (blame, revenge and manipulation)

The behaviours associated with potentially limiting values support the ego in meeting its needs. Blame is seen by the ego as a way of avoiding humiliation

Revenge is seen by the ego as a way of getting even.

Manipulation is seen by the ego as way of manoeuvring to get its needs met.

Personal mastery involves letting go of the ego’s limiting values, and replacing them with the values (virtues) of the soul. In order to let go of your limiting values you must learn how to

manage, master or eliminate your fear-based beliefs. When the beliefs of your ego are out of alignment with the values of the soul, you lack authenticity.

The tool Leadership Values Assessment (LVA) measure this lack of alignment and authenticity and calculate an individual’s level of Personal Entropy. Personal entropy is the amount of fear-driven energy that a

person expresses in his or her day-to-day interactions with other people.

Humans have developed six ways of making decisions: instincts subconscious beliefs, conscious beliefs,

values, intuition, and inspiration.

Nowadays, it is normal for human beings to grow up with the ability to utilize the first three modes of decision-making.

From an evolutionary perspective, values-based decision-making, intuition-based decision-

making, and inspiration are still relatively new, but are increasingly being used as more and more people evolve to higher levels of consciousness.

For individuation and self-actualization. Values allow us to transcend the belief structures of our parental and cultural conditioning, so we can become more fully who we are, and live a more authentic life.

For the institutionalization and development of democracy around the world. Values allow us to transcend our ethnic/cultural belief structures by uniting us around shared basic human principles.

Allows us to throw away our rule books. When a group of people espouse an agreed set of values and understand which behaviours support those values, then you no longer need to rely on bureaucratic procedures setting out what people should or should not do in specific situations. All the rules reduce to one—live the values.

The Cultural Transformation Tools enable us to identify and map the values of an individual, an organisation, a community or a nation to the Seven Levels of Consciousness model.

Values Alignment: When we ask a group of people to pick ten values that represent who they are, how their organisation/community/nation operates (current culture), and how they would like it to operate (desired culture) -- we are able to measure the level of values alignment.

Example of Values Alignment

Value Jumps: We can also measure which values in the current culture people want to receive more prominence in the desired culture. These are called values jumps. The values with the highest value jumps--those with the biggest increase in votes are the ones that should be given the most attention.

Example of Values Jump Analysis

The purpose of CTT is to support leaders in building high-performance, values-driven

cultures that attract and keep talented people and increase staff engagement.

CTT provides leaders, consultants, and

coaches with one of the most detailed and

comprehensive cultural diagnostics and

values assessment instruments commercially

available.

CTT surveys provide the input you need to

plan and manage your change initiatives,

your cultural transformation programmes,

your diversity interventions, your talent

management and leadership development

initiatives, and your customer feedback.

Individuals, Teams, and Organisations - CTT can be used for individual coaching, leadership development, organisational or team transformation, and whole system change

Short Survey - The CTT assessment instruments are available on-line and require only 15-20 minutes to complete

Customisable - The CTT assessment instruments can be customised to the specific cultural and demographic needs of the groups being surveyed

Demographics - The richness of the survey data is determined by the depth of demographic categories chosen. There is no limit to the number of demographic categories you can choose

Affordable - CTT is affordable for both small and large organisations. Costs are based on the number of reports requested, not the number of survey participants. Reduced fees are available for developing countries and for primary and secondary educational institutions

Multiple Languages - The survey is currently available in multiple languages or written dialects. Additional languages can easily be added.

Fast Turnaround - A Cultural Values Assessment typically goes from survey initiation to reporting in two to four weeks

There are two models that are used to analyze the data collected by the CTT survey instruments – the Seven Levels of Consciousness Model (The Barrett Model), and the Business Needs Scorecard (BNS).

The Business Needs Scorecard (BNS) is an adaptation of the Balanced

Scorecard developed by Kaplan and Norton.