THE CORE PROBLEM
The world is at a pivotal place with its current challenges such as climate change, artificial intelligence, geopolitical instability, and political extremism on the rise just to name a few. If we look at these problems and others that humanity is facing, what is the underlying common theme? Is there another problem that is underneath all of them? Is this another problem the root of all of them? Could there be a core problem? When I investigate these questions more deeply and break down all the components, I come to the observation that it comes down to key individuals and how these individuals relate to one another and the world around them. In particular it is individuals who are in positions of power or leadership¹. And their level of development around key leadership capacities, both individually and relationally.
We have a leadership and relational intelligence problem. I believe that is the core problem.
Someone could charge me for oversimplifying it and not taking into account the complexity of all the above mentioned problems. That's fair. But believe me, I see the immense complexity of it and of course I believe there are additional factors to take into consideration. I am just suggesting to place the cart before the horse. To take a few steps back, in order to go many steps forward. I have just seen time and time again that when leaders rise with specific capacities and how they relate to one another, the wisdom and other practicalities that are needed to solve the problem emerge naturally and organically.
Or I could be charged with being too big picture and being in the clouds vs getting your hands dirty by working with the specifics that each situation and problem above requires. That is also fair. But I would like to suggest that we all have a place and role to serve in this eco-system. Some people are built to work with the specifics and being linear and being practical. Others are built to be in the big picture and work with more generalizing patterns and the non-linear.
That is where I fall.² I have spent the last 30 years learning and training in what I perceive as the root of all problems, both individually and collectively - consciousness and the structures that are created from them. And when I mean consciousness, I am speaking to individual and collective (ie culture) types. I have delved deep into spiritual training and relational intelligence, the patterns that make up an individual and the collective such as culture, systems, societies, and the world. To both investigate from the inside and also the outside looking in. The interior and exterior of the individual and the collective. I also humbly realize I can't possibly be an expert in each perspective of relational intelligence and social theory (ie critical race theory, systemic racism) and I leave some thoughts about this in the notes section.³
I think it is possible to create an eco-system with both decentralized and centralized aspects where some in the world can focus on the foundation while others are building structures from older ones. I believe there is a way to do both simultaneously. Everything is perfect the way it is. And it is not. To play in that paradox. As you will see, that is an expression of 2nd Tier. Embracing the whole while transforming it. Transcluding.
So my calling in the system is to work with what I perceive to be the problem of all global problems - leadership and relational intelligence. To build a new foundation.
Global hunger exemplifies a challenge we face together and where I see leadership and relational intelligence at the root of it. Here is one fact to consider - supposedly we make enough food to feed the world 1.5x of the population.⁴ That's right...you heard that correctly. It is a extremely complex issue, but supposedly alot of this food gets wasted or ends up entangled in politics, corruption, inefficiency, lack of cooperation amongst nations and leaders, and income inequality. Like I said - we have a leadership and relational intelligence problem.
ENTER 2ND TIER
The picture above represents an artistic expression as I feel the world right now. There are areas of cracks and grays where the world and this planet could fall apart because of the global challenges we face and that I have mentioned above. But another phenomenon also exists that is abundant and promising.
I experience emerging sub-cultures that give me an experience of hope and possibility. There is an underground movement that is evolving organically that is producing a new generation of leaders. One subset of these leaders are unknowingly setting the foundation for a 2nd Tier eco-system that has the potential, in my view, to work towards solving our future global challenges in ways unimaginable before. There is a real potential for massive impact if they were to collaborate together and cultivate power in the world. This is an evolutionary milestone.
The problem is we don't have the relational intelligence operating system to put it all together where collaboration at that level could be a reality.
So what does 2nd Tier have to do with all this? What is 2nd Tier and its corresponding eco-system? That will take some time to adequately answer. For one, it can't be understood rationally and linearly. Multiple intelligences and capacities need to be embodied for full understanding. Can someone who only understands arithmetic understand algebra? Can someone who only understands algebra understand calculus? Understanding any topic requires an embodiment of particular capacities that build on each other. It will take time and persistence effort.
So my suggestion is to approach this topic and inquiry like a russian doll and multi-dimensional puzzle. You will need both cognitive and experiential capacities to fully discover all the many layers and pieces and how they connect with one another. So I will offer many blog posts for the cognitive learning, and I will also offer many practices that will support you in expanding this understanding by experiencing it with your whole mind, body, and spirit. Especially with the non-linear and nondual aspects.
So read this and other posts I suggest the first time and contemplate. And do this over and over again. Eventually the nonlinear will happen and you will understand the whole and all its parts.
Some Background
The term, 2nd Tier, was popularized by the philosopher Ken Wilber in Integral Psychology (2000), but the term originally comes from Spiral Dynamics (1996) with the meaning originally coming from developmental psychologist, Clare Graves. As I explain in this post in more detail, there is a simple and complex response to what 2nd Tier is.
Simple Answer. It is the capacity of an individual to take on multiple perspectives from multiple intelligences, discerning the truth value from their bias, and weaving it together in a new whole while creating cultures and systems from that place. It is where an individual has traversed the journey from 1st to 5th person perspective taking capacity in their lifetime. They are able to include all the parts of them that live from each of these perspective taking levels and also transclude them to a whole new expression. They will appear contradictory and paradoxical to some and a genius to others. They will appear both simple and complex.
Complex Answer. It depends - (read this post for more understanding). It encompasses many different lines of development in the dimensions of the individual and collective. It comprises an array of capacities and when these individuals come together with these capacities, a new eco-system will be born. That is what I envision.⁵ And where my certainty comes from.⁶
According to developmental psychology, individuals and the collective traverse thru a series of stages across various lines of development such as cognitive intelligence, moral intelligence, ego development, values development, spiritual intelligence, just to name a few. Each line of research has different number of stages varying around 5-9 stages. A lot of these researchers have compared their stages with their peers' stages and have found something interesting - they have found there is some similarities amongst them even though they have each researched different variables. Some thought leaders have taken this comparison a little further and created a tier system.⁷ 1st Tier has six stages and 2nd Tier has two. An individual can be at different stages across the various lines of development. Just because you are at stage 7 in cognitive intelligence doesn't necessarily mean you will be at the same level in moral intelligence. You could find yourself at an earlier level with an opportunity where you can mature in this area.
1st Tier vs 2nd Tier. And you might be wondering what is the difference between 1st and 2nd Tier. The simple answer is that all the stages of 1st Tier think they are right and the best. That view doesn't happen at 2nd Tier. At 2nd Tier, leaders see the positive purpose and developmental appropriateness of each of the preceding stages and they experience that embrace within themselves because they know that every stage lives within them. All they have been able to do is transcend and include them in the best of circumstances. But they also acknowledge under conditions of stress and other reasons, one could regress temporarily to these earlier stages. You can't get rid of these earlier stages of development. You can only transcend and include them. Embracing their positive purpose and how they serve the health of their entire psychology. And once you are able to do that for yourself, you are able to extrapolate that to others and the collective. There is a real love here. They realize that every individual and collective system needs to go thru each of the stages. No stage can be skipped because each builds off and includes the preceding level. Because of this evolutionary phenomenon, these leaders strive to support each stage to arise in healthy expressions and encourage their movement from one stage to the next vs entering into arrested development and getting fixed in that stage. So 2nd Tier includes 1st Tier.
WHAT IS A 2ND TIER ECO-SYSTEM
So now that we have a rough understanding of what 2nd Tier is, we can explore what its corresponding eco-system could look like.
Reality Check
I want to begin with some honesty and realism - we actually don't know exactly what such a system could look like. We only have some general idea and direction for further exploration and application. Some leaders like Frederic Laloux and his book, Reinventing Organizations have proposed an actual idea of what an organization and its culture could look like at this level called Teal organizations, but in my opinion, I don't think it is the first stage (teal) of 2nd Tier as he claims. At best it could be the highest version of the last stage of 1st Tier, what I would call "high green." I see too many themes of egalitarianism and the author/his community using clever rationality to argue that it is not. I see some unprocessed shadow around centralized power and the masculine and as an empath, I experience their aversion around these power dynamics and also around the theme of doing-ness vs being-ness⁸ I will write a future article about this.
So why do we only have general ideas and direction around what a 2nd Tier eco-system could look like? For one, such a system hasn't existed yet. At least at a large enough scale to be recognized. I have experienced a small culture with a few individuals who have either some or most of the nine markers (will expound on that shortly!) of 2nd Tier and magic does happen amongst us. There are still triggers and disagreements, but a spirit of curiosity and presence inhabits these difficult moments with lots of love. These experiences are one of the reasons why I have such hope for humanity if we could train certain individuals called to leadership to embody the capacities at this level of relational intelligence and inspire them to cultivate positions of power in the world. But we wouldn't consider these gatherings a 2nd Tier eco-system because it is transitory and we are not really collaborating towards a common mission and vision (not deliberately or consciously at least).
The second reason is we don't have enough individuals emerging past stage 6 (last stage of 1st Tier) in various lines of development to really see what 2nd Tier could look like. 6% of the population is supposedly at this level in ego development⁹ and only 2% in positions of leadership in the business world¹⁰ as of 1999. I actually think this statistic is lower if we are using my proposed typology of a 2nd Tier leader and their nine markers. My guess would be less than 1% of the population. Because of these statistics, most of the research have limited empirical data of individuals at this level. One line of research I see as a good start in gathering empirical data at stage 7 and 8 is Cook-Greuter's Ego Development line of research. In her 1999 dissertation, she used 1100 individual items from people completing a sentence completion test (SCT) on ego development that scored at these later stages. She also had 476 mostly stage 5 and higher full protocols of SCTs.¹¹ From this data, she was able to recognize patterns at these higher levels. Her sample size lends to empirical validity since we want at least several hundred participants of a study and ideally a thousand.¹²
Another problem is even if researchers would collect all the individuals that show signs of these later stages, they would be committing sampling bias. It's not easy to find these individuals and to seek them out would be contrary to performing a random sample.
So for these reasons and more, we only have limited knowledge to work from.
Some hope. Regardless of this limited scope, this should not discourage us. We still have some empirical examples, anecdotal evidence, intuitions, and insights of patterns at this level to work from. We can use this knowledge to at least start the journey towards building a 2nd Tier eco-system and concurrently continue the research, both empirical and in the field, to refine our understanding and application in the long-term. As a business mentor always advises me - build the plane as you are flying it. And I think this attempt and the 100-year vision I am proposing, will meet the massive future challenge of artificial intelligence that will come. If a new species is going to be born (which I think is inevitable), I would love it to exemplify the best qualities of humanity such as love and being a spiral wizard. And for it to be embodied vs a trans-human.
What Is An Eco-system?
So getting back to answering the question, what is a 2nd Tier eco-system, lets first investigate what is an eco-system in general. In my view, it is created by activity of numerous individuals and the relational code they use to interact with each other to create respective cultures and systems. The global military industrial complex would be an eco-system. The UN and all their collaborating organizations would be an eco-system. Even business leaders who subscribe to conscious capitalism and building organizations (ie Whole Foods) from this value system would be an eco-system. An eco-system can run from being small to large. A family would be the former and a nation would be the latter. In each of these examples mentioned, there are a group of individuals at various developmental capacities who relate to each other based on a operational code of values, goals, thoughts, and behaviors. I call this pattern of an eco-system the relational intelligence operating system of that system. Every system has one and is always based on the individuals' developmental capacities and how they interact with one another.
From my research and field observation, I have seen eco-systems ranging from stage 1 to stage 6 in 1st Tier. I have only seen limited spaces of 2nd Tier ones as I mentioned. Despite this limitation, I believe we can still use the existing empirical evidence, anecdotal experiences, intuitions, and insights to start moving us in the direction of building one in the scope of a 100-year vision.
LUMINA: A VISION FOR A 2ND TIER ECO-SYSTEM
In the following I will be outlining a vision for a possible 2nd Tier eco-system that I am calling Lumina that will address our core problem of leadership and relational intelligence and with that foundation, we can work towards the solutions of the our global challenges within a 100 years or sooner. I will outline this vision as well as the proposed features that Lumina, a 2nd Tier system will comprise.
Proposed Features
Based on the research mentioned above and my personal experiences, I propose that Lumina, a beginning 2nd Tier eco-system will have the following features -
Diversity of Typologies
Leadership: 9 Markers
Training
Relational Intelligence OS
Community
Multiple Perspectives: weaving and discernment
Collaboration
Centralization and Decentralization
1st Tier embedment
Concentric circles
Each of the above features requires its own blog post and want to provide that in time. For the time being, I would like to offer a brief word on each.
1 - Diversity of Typologies. There will be various typologies in this emerging eco-system such as transformational leaders, business leaders, thought leaders, political leaders, activists, spiritual teachers, spiritual practitioners and supporters just to name a few. Now it is true that other eco-systems have various typologies like these such as the political eco-system in Washington DC. They have political leaders and thought leaders, but I think what stands out in a 2nd Tier eco-system is that there will be transformational coaches and leaders who specialize in helping individuals connect more deeply with themselves and others for the personal and cultural transformations that will be needed amongst all these typologies for collaboration at this level to be a reality. It will take a village to raise 2nd Tier leaders and I believe transformational leaders will play a forefront role in this endeavor and eco-system.
To create a 2nd Tier eco-system, there needs to be transformation. In order to transition from 1st Tier eco-systems, leaders will need to be more connected with themselves and work thru the patterns within and without that prevent win-win spaces between them and others. We will need transformational leaders to take these new leaders to depth and to the embodiment of the 9 markers. But transformation needs to be done a certain way so there is no polarization. We need to do transformation in relational nonduality to weave and integrate. So transformation is key here. And having leaders to do it.
I can hear the possible feedback that this is just an attempt to create another organization and culture that potentially will become a cult. That is a fair point. I too have seen it time and time again. But remember Lumina is not an organization. It is a movement; an eco-system; and as you will see below, it will have many different nodes in its network with various expressions of power relating structures, from decentralization to centralization. That is what will make Lumina unique. There can't be an organization running Lumina. It needs to be a compilation of individuals, organizations, and communities that share similar values, vision, and practices where we can offer loving accountability to each other. It will form and develop organically with key players and organizations stewarding it from their respective nodes in the eco-system.
In addition, I don't think transformation cultures create cults. I believe it is leaders and participants of a system at earlier stages of development around key capacities such as power relating and sovereignty and the corresponding systems they co-create from this place that create cults. Again, we have a leadership and relational intelligence problem.
Returning to the discussion around diversity of typologies, there are a couple reasons why I am highlighting various typologies as a feature in this emerging system. First, I have seen alot of separation of typologies in stage 6 (green) personal development and spiritual communities and that makes sense in alot of ways. When individuals start transitioning from modern eco-systems (stage 5, orange), they naturally want to separate from the previous behaviors, values, and patterns of that system, so they can emerge and mature in more sovereign ways. You need to separate to develop forward. You will see this for any individual who traverses from one level of a system to a next. A classic example is a teenager being rebellious with his family upbringing (stage 3, amber). He needs to find his unique individuality that is different than what his mother and father or siblings want from him.
So I have seen alot of separation and individuality in the spiritual communities and I believe in time they will see the importance of weaving back together. Since stage 5 individuals (even disembodied stage 6) is my audience, I mention this feature for that reason.
Second, I have been working with high achievers in the business world the past 5 years and recently have invited them into a beta program for 2nd Tier development. One of these participants, John shows certain emerging capacities, but what I have seen with him and others of this typology is that they have aversions toward the ivory tower types. And vice-versa - I have also seen the ivory tower types (or spiritual types) have difficulty in receiving the wisdom from the very practical worldly linear high achievers. And I have always found myself in the middle, appreciating the value that each typology has to offer to one another. I see the promise where both typologies can receive the wisdom of both and transform their respective typology to the next level.
Another example is the woman leader who values femininity and the whole priestess typology, but has aversions to the masculine way of doing things. And vice-versa. Again, I see the value of both perspectives and typologies and can see the 2nd Tier invitation for them to weave and embody the wisdom that both are holding while continuing to express their unique role as either a priestess or masculine leader.
We are going nowhere as an eco-system if we can't integrate the polar opposites of our typologies and with each other. How can we work towards creating the solutions to the societal and global challenges we face now and in the future if we can't collaborate with people who hold a vital piece of the puzzle in regards to these challenges. Thus why we need a relational intelligence operating system.
2 - Leadership: 9 Markers. Through these various typologies will emerge leadership that have embodied some or most of the 9 markers. This is the second proposed feature of a 2nd Tier eco-system.
As I have mentioned above, the first 2nd Tier capacity that I see emerge organically for individuals is vision-logic. The capacity to take in the whole and understand the parts and how all the truths are connected with each other, while discerning their perceived truth value of each, in a single flash of whole picture understanding. Normally logic is A leads to B. Very linear and step to step. But vision-logic is able to see not just one logical sequence, but multiple ones in a system, especially the nonlinear ones of seemingly contradictory and opposing views. That ability to take in all the logical sequences, while also holding the nonlinear understanding at the same time in a whole like looking at a picture is where the word, vision, comes from in vision-logic.
But in my experience, vision-logic is not enough for a true healthy and mature 2nd Tier eco-system that can thrive and collaborate. Other metrics are necessary.
Through my research into the various lines of development in developmental psychology and also consulting with material written by the first generation of 2nd Tier thinkers, I have discovered a possible typology¹³ of a 2nd Tier leader that could really make this collaboration a reality and for massive impact to happen in the world. I have found nine (9) markers that would make up such a leader:
Nonduality
Love
Commitment: Self-Actualization
Advanced Emotional Intelligence
Ego Coherence
Vision-logic
Worldview: Integral
Grand Purpose
Spiral Wizard
I explain the operational definition of each in The 9 Markers.
3 - Training. To support these evolutionary leaders to embody these nine markers, training will be necessary. Every eco-system has a training feature. The eco-systems of the modern world require individuals to go thru at least 12 grades of education to prepare them for life and a further 4 grades in college for more specialized jobs.
I think there will be various training environments and organizations up to this task and I believe they will be independent of each other, but also deeply connected in sound boarding ideas and practices. Each one might specialize in a particular expression of 2nd Tier. I am thinking of Circling (ie Circling Europe style) vs Dynamic Presence. The former I have experienced to emphasize the being-ness and surrender quality whereas the latter emphasizes this and the doing aspect and enacting relational presence that will be different for each individual or group in the world.
4 - Relational Intelligence OS. This training in the embodiment of the 9 markers will bring various typological leaders together and there will be a relational code for how to navigate and weave together the various typologies and their respective views and gifts, so we can work towards the solutions of the societal and global challenges we face.
I imagine there will be various candidates of relational intelligence OSs for Lumina. I am proposing my own model, Dynamic Presence, as one of them. Each candidate or version of a relational code will act as a node in the system
5 - Community. With the shared relational code of interacting with one another, a community will form around common values such as nonduality, love, and commitment to self-actualization (ie as they understand it). From this community, a support system will be available as each individual goes thru the challenges of life and relating in the eco-system. Because there will be many organizations and communities, the eco-system will look like a network of nodes and venn circles. Some of those orgs and communities will overlap each other like an ellipse of venn circles. There will be other circles not intersecting each other but will exist in the eco-system because they have emerged organically and naturally and share the common values and practices (ie nonduality, self-connection) of the overall system.
This network of nodes, venn circles, and independent emerging circles will exhibit both decentralization and centralization of power within the Lumina eco-system. Each typology, community, and group of individuals will cultivate the power dynamics structure resonant with their own typology. Some will gravitate towards a decentralized approach. Some will gravitate towards the opposite. While others will want a mix. Despite the choosing of the power structure of their node within Lumina, they will appreciate all forms of power and how each form is important for the overall development of this eco-system. And each node will have concentric circles radiating out into Lumina. I explain more below.
6 - Multiple Perspectives: weaving and discernment. With a community and shared relational code, leaders with these nine markers will have unique perspectives relative to their gifts, roles, and typologies. Each will see the world differently with their unique perspective. Because of the embodiment of these nine markers, especially love and vision-logic, there will be a calling to weave together the various perspectives that exists in the world with discernment. Each leader will discern the truth and utility value of certain perspective based on their owned bias while staying open to where they possibly are missing something or are inaccurate in their discernment. With this openness, they proceed forward in their certainty and try to apply to a situation. In this weaving and discerning, individuals will inevitably feel tension and get triggered with each other. There will be full blown intimacy in both the agreeing and disagreeing with one another while staying open to possibly being in collusion (if agreeing) or to possibly being in reactivity (if disagreeing). In this either unconscious collusion or reactivity, the relational intelligence OS that exists in the system will provide people the map on how to navigate this weaving and collaboration, so a win-win can triumph. They will value staying in connection while having different truths and perspectives.
7 - Collaboration. While weaving and discerning, individuals will begin to resonate with certain individuals more than others especially where shared understanding and interests merge. And they will feel the calling to collaborate and offer value to a particular purpose. They will move towards a common vision. This will happen between individuals, between organizations, between communities, and between movements.
Not everyone in the eco-system will collaborate with one another. I imagine there will be separate circles and nodes in the network, but that will all be joined by a common set of values and behaviors.
8 - Decentralization and Centralization. With an integral worldview, a 2nd Tier leader is able to see the positive purpose of every stage in development and its associated power relating expressions. They will see the context appropriateness of each power dynamic such as top-down, egalitarianism, dynamic, and a mix of all in different time spaces of the context. And they will create cultures and systems in the larger eco-system that allows for this full expression. They will have a healthy relationship with feminine power and masculine power within themselves.
In addition, I believe some aspects of Lumina will happen organically and separately from the rest of the nodes -decentralization. We will not be aware of each other and it will take time for us to find each other and link up. I also believe some nodes will want to continue to develop organically and without any formal centralized leadership.
I also believe there will be intentional nodes where they want to have some centralized leadership and deliberation to it.
As you will discover under the Concentric Circles section below, the Dynamic Presence community will have both a centralized and decentralized aspect to it. The latter being open source training.
9 - 1st Tier embedment. The eco-system will include and be a part of other 1st Tier systems. An example of this is a student of mine that is trying to bring 2nd Tier culture (ie dynamic power hierarchy with fixed hierarchy in particular situations) in his sales team in a corporation. Leaders will leverage various aspects of 1st Tier such as top-down power hierarchies, egalitarian structures, capitalism, socialism, high achievement, traditional rules and customs, and bridge with or disrupt the system with their ideas and visions.
10 - Concentric Circles. I imagine each node of the Lumina network with their various relational codes as candidates will have concentric circles characteristic of it. For example, in the Dynamic Presence community, I imagine three circles connecting in the larger Lumina eco-system. The inner circle would be a group of individuals who really resonate with the frames and practices of the relational model such as 3 Steps to Connection and are actively practicing the model together. Or they are in the various training programs and actively pursuing to embody the nine markers. The middle circle would encompass people that have participated in the Dynamic Presence training in the past, but have not fully embodied the nine markers. The outer circle would be individuals who have tried various aspects of the model, but have not become proficient in the the practices and relating capacities between them and others. It was also would include the people from various other relational or 2nd Tier communities such as circling for the former and game b, meta-modern, and integral communities for the latter. In the outer circle, we would overlap in some of the nine markers such as nonduality or vision-logic for instance and have some second tier relating happening between us as a result.
Summary. These are the initial aspects of Lumina and a second tier system that I see emerging.
Participating Contributors: Proposed Criteria
As mentioned above, Lumina will have many nodes in its eco-system. I propose the following criteria to guide us to discerning who we accept as participating contributors especially in the beginning phases.
Integral: Share values of practicing integral views and vision-logic such as weighted discernment with owned bias.
Love: Value love and the win-win.
Relational Presencing: Resonant with relational presencing with one another.
Markers: Feel resonant with the nine markers or at least some of them.
This criteria is a beginning list and believe more might emerge as we soundboard with each other and discern what is appropriate within the concentric circles within the whole system.
100 YEAR VISION
I think it will take some time to for this eco-system to develop both organically and intentionally. And get to the maturity where it can make massive impact globally. We need to build on stage 6 and optimal 1st Tier culture to get to 2nd Tier. I propose four phases within 100 years. I think they can both happen sequentially and simultaneously. I think the sequence will determine which phase will have the most emphasis, while the subsequent one will have less. The phases are the following:
Phase 1: Find
Find each other
Phase 2: Train
Train concurrently two pathways of leadership and culture:
1. Optimal 1st Tier
2. 2nd Tier
Create multiple training grounds for these pathways
Phase 3: Power
Seek and cultivate positions of power
Phase 4: Impact
Make epic impact
Quick Note On - Phase 2: Train
I see two groups of people and pathways that I believe will support the more intentional development of a 2nd Tier eco-system. Some individuals will have one or more of the 9 markers of 2nd Tier already such as vision-logic. These individuals will need support and training to embody the rest of the markers that I am proposing for a viable and successful collaboration amongst each other.
The other group will be individuals that do not have any of the markers but feel an inner calling to embody them in their life. Their center of gravity will most likely be late stage 5 or stage 6 along various variables (ie ego development, emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence).
I envision training programs that will address both groups. So as we build Lumina, we will work towards two paths concurrently: 1) building a foundation and conveyor belt into 2nd Tier, specifically training ready individuals in optimal 1st Tier or stage 6, the last stage of 1st Tier; and 2) training individuals with some of the markers of 2nd Tier (ie vision-logic)
A Reminder
Every new level eco-system usually takes considerable amount of time to germinate before it comes in full fruition. The democracy and republic principles of the United States and its constitution marks such an example. A lot of the ideas and suggestions that make up this constitution were preceded by thought leaders 100 years before such as the work of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Montesquieu. And by systems such as English Bill of Rights in 1689.
So this is the time of the visionary leaders who can see into the future and know what is possible.
SUMMARY
If we look at all the global challenges and investigate deeply, we will discover we have a core problem - leadership and relational intelligence. We don't have leaders with next tier capabilities and a relational intelligence where they can collaborate effectively enough for win-win solutions to our global challenges.
I have hope because I am seeing emerging leaders and sub-cultures that comprise of capacities of this next tier - 2nd Tier. In stage theory within developmental psychology, we see eight levels that an individual and eco-system can evolve thru on various lines of development such as cognitive intelligence, moral intelligence, emotional intelligence, ego development, and values development. Across these various lines, 1st Tier has six stages; 2nd Tier has two stages. In general, 1st Tier individuals and cultures believe that their stage is better and higher than the rest. They have difficulty seeing the positive purpose of each stage of evolution. 2nd Tier thinking is the opposite - they believe each stage in evolution from 1st and 8th has equal intrinsic value and each is vital for the health of the overall spiral of development. Higher and better is assessed based on dynamic metrics in a context. Hierarchies of value still exist, but there is an ownership of bias and also a recognition of the relativity of their metric being used for such value judgments.
In addition, 2nd Tier can be defined by a simple answer and a complex one. Simple - 2nd Tier is the arrival of taking a 5th person perspective. An individual has the capacity to take on multiple perspectives from multiple intelligences with weighted discernment and ownership of bias. Complex one - it depends. There are various lines of development that comprise 1st and 2nd Tier. The simple response above is based on the line of development called the stages of perspective taking. This capacity is what I have seen emerge first and the most among the various markers for this tier.
Through my research of the various lines of development, I have highlighted nine markers in 2nd Tier that I believe together could have a massive impact in the world in all sectors - nonduality, love, ego coherence, commitment to self-actualization, grand purpose, advanced emotional intelligence, vision-logic, integral worldviews, and spiral wizard.
If leaders were to embody some or all of these markers and relate to one another from this place, a next tier eco-system would be born, what I am calling Lumina. It would have various features such as diversity of connecting typologies, centralization and decentralization of power, a relational code, win-win collaboration, a web of nodes and nodal centers with concentric circles to each. This eco-system will all these features would be embedded in all the other 1st Tier eco-systems in the world. It would value each eco-system and attempt to spiral wizard by finding ways and structures to have them connect to the larger spiral in ways where it prevents arrested development or unhealthy expressions, while promoting individuals and systems thru open evolutionary development.
Every new level of an eco-system takes time to develop. It took 200 years (2000 years if we are including democratic ancient Greece), for democratic thought and principles to be enacted and have massive impact (ie US constitution and subsequent domino effect of democratic nations). I believe it will take a 100 years or less for a 2nd Tier eco-system to take root and start having impact. I am proposing four phases: find each other, train leaders, cultivate positions of power, and implement collaboration and solutions to the current global challenges.
This is my vision for Lumina and addressing our core problem of leadership and relational intelligence.
NOTES -
¹ And the opposite is also true - individuals who are not seeking power because they have the opposite shadow - some aversion to power and utilizing it. They have overly identified with all the abuses that people in power have committed and are judging incorrectly. They are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Egalitarianism or viewing centralized power as bad is not the answer. I think there is a place for equal power, for decentralization, but I also have seen the beauty of centralization and especially if it is coming from conscious leadership and a healthy relationship to the masculine and power. I see a world where all forms of power relating can exist. a place where decentralization and centralization are deeply connected to one another. That is the gift that I believe the embodiment of certain key 2nd Tier markers can show us.
² I always have been a big picture person and seeing the patterns that make up this bigger picture. I have always been called forward to navigate this bigger picture and not get bogged down in the details, but to create systems and catalyze patterns that will address all these problems at once. Everyone has a role. Some will feel called to work with specific problems and create specific strategies and tactics to solve them. Others will feel called like me to work with the bigger picture and patterns that are contributing to many problems at once. My invitation is: can we embrace all types? And consider what each of our role is in the eco-system.
³ And to be clear, I am not claiming to be an expert in every area of the individual and collective. That would be ridiculous to claim and also impossible to be. That is one of the beauties of being human. We are so imperfect and at the same time that gives the opportunity for others to step in and fill in where the other person is lacking. We can be like one big fucking dynamic puzzle where we are all a puzzle piece with our own expertise and gifts, where we can plug into each other and create a greater whole. So what I am saying is I have particular expertise in certain domains that I have focused on in my life and I am inviting you to plug in and offer what I am missing. My only ask is that you do this from a place of mutual inquiry and curiosity, and also love and honor of each other. There is a way we can disagree with each other that doesn't cause division but can bring us closer together in discovering truth. When you are sharing your perspective, are you staying connected with me from the heart? Do you feel connected with me? Or do you experience some aversion of what I am saying and are either in obvious reactivity or maybe subtle reactivity? What I am inviting you into is relational epistemology. I will write a future article about this to go in more depth. In the meantime, practice the 3 Steps to Connection as you ponder your own perspectives with mine.
⁴ Eric Holt-Giménez, Annie Shattuck, Miguel Altieri, Hans Herren and Steve Gliessman, "We Already Grow Enough Food for 10 Billion People … and Still Can't End Hunger," Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 36, no. 6 (2012), 595, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10440046.2012.695331.
⁵ I actually have not seen a group of people coming together at this level. But I have seen individuals with either a good range of 2nd Tier markers or emerging capacities and when I interact with them, magic happens. But it only goes so far because we don't have an agreed upon code or relational operating system to work from. There needs to be more interaction and catalyzing of each other. I see each of us having a particular piece of the relational intelligence puzzle but we don't spend enough time to actually work this out. This phenomenon that I have observed over the last 10 years in various spaces and communities is what gives me hope and a vision of what such an eco-system could look like and why I have launched this website.
⁶ And for those who are more invested in the postmodern emphasis on curiosity and uncertainty and might have an aversion to my level of conviction and certainty here. I invite you to hold the possibility for both to co-exist. Can someone who has conviction also embody an aspect of uncertainty? That there could be an opening in the closedness, which certainty always brings. To explain my conviction more specifically, I just feel a truth that is real and possible while at the same time not knowing how it can all come together. I know the vision is 100% possible and inevitable because of evolutionary forces over time, but I also don't have all the answers to manifest this possibility and also what the various expressions could look like. I just have intuitions, hypotheses, and inclinations.
⁸ Susanne Cook-Greuter, a theorist and researcher of the ego line of development concurred with me and shared similar thoughts. Personal communication, June 2022.
⁹ Susanne Cook-Greuter, Nine Levels Of Increasing Embrace In Ego Development: A Full-Spectrum Theory Of Vertical Growth And Meaning Making (Prepublication, 2013), pg 19 (table 3), http://onesystemonevoice.com/resources/Cook-Greuter+9+levels+paper+new+1.1$2714+97p$5B1$5D.pdf.
I personally feel it is less than 6% just based on my own experience. 6% comes out to 1 in 20 people. Just basing it on my "personal feel", it feels more like 1 out of 100,000. Kegan's (1994) research points more to my personal feel. He actually found 0% at his 5th order of consciousness (2nd Tier development). See paragraph below.
It also depends on what sample size we are looking at. Table 3 (Cook-Greuter, 2013) also references a 3397 sample size from 2000-2007 in which only 4% of the adult population is at stage 7 and 8 of 2nd Tier.
And just to put this into more context, Cook-Greuter (1990, pg 86) found in that study's sample size that less than half a percent were at stage 8 (turquoise, second level of 2nd Tier). From: Susanne Cook-Greuter, "Chapter 5: Maps for Living: Ego-Development Stages from Symbiosis to Conscious Universal Embeddedness," in Adult Development Volume 2: Models and Methods in the Study of Adolescent and Adult Thought, eds. Michael L. Commons and Cheryl Armon et al (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1990).
Another theorist and researcher, Robert Kegan posits five orders of consciousness in his developmental psychology theory. His 5th order of consciousness would compare to both stages of 2nd Tier. Interestingly enough, he found 0% in his studies where people were at this level of development. His sample size was 342 individuals across several studies. From Robert Kegan, In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), 192.
So I believe these different sample sizes and different statistical findings at this level (2nd Tier) point to how rare it is to find individuals at this center of gravity.
¹⁰ Cook-Greuter, Nine Levels, pg 19. She added another sample size of 497 in her chart of leadership positions in the business world in the US.
¹¹ Susanne Cook-Greuter, Postautonomous Ego Development: A Study of Its Nature and Measurement (Integral Publishers: Dissertation Series, 1999), pg 143. Each sentence completion test (SCT) has various items (usually 36) for an individual to complete a sentence stem (ie "When I am criticized-"). These 36 items make up a a full protocol. Each item is rated a stage of ego development that the response characterized. A study participant can have different stage responses for each sentence stem item. So Cook-Greuter found 1100 items out of the 4420 protocols she scored from 1980-1997 that appeared to be at these later stages. In addition she also found 476 full protocols where a study participant scored as a whole at these later stages (stage 6 and onwards; she writes: "I also retained copies of 476 (about one in ten) mostly postconventional protocols for further analysis" Postconventional in her theory starts at stage 6, Individualist level of ego development - see Cook-Greuter, Nine Levels, pg, 51).
¹² Cook-Greuter, Personal Communication, February 21, 2020.
¹³ See footnote 2 in post, The 9 Markers for a further discussion on typologies and the typology I chose for 2nd Tier leadership.