...Historic Meeting with Fatah, Israeli businesses, Knesset members,. and more

DR. DON E. BECK, faculty member at Adizes Graduate School, and his colleague, Elza Maalouf, have gained great support in Israel and in Palestine. They met with high level members of the Knesset in Israel on February 4th, and with 700 members of the Fatah party on February 2nd. Don and Elza received invitations, shortly thereafter, from the offices of both Tony Blair and Shimon Peres. They also met with large employers in Israel who foresee a future working with Palestine. Don and Elza have been invited to return to Palestine to meet with 100-200,000 Fatah party members and their constituents this summer.

The Palestine News, the only English language newspaper in Palestine that also circulates in Israel and other parts of the Arab world, has been featuring a column called Ask Dr. Beck, a landmark in communication with regard to introducing spiral dynamics concepts in the Arab world. According to a note from Dr. Beck:

"I believe this is a major break through for us. Clearly, Palestine must develop before there can be a relationship with Israel, so we decided to focus on how to integrate all of the stakeholders and resources. The responses to this notion were most positive. We have an invitation to further our presentations to 100,000 Fatah members this summer.

...we hope to demonstrate how to get all of the interests working together, including the World Bank, the USAid group, the foundations, the Arab governments, educational and religious entities, etc. Simply moving boundaries around or locating people in different places in the negotiation process will not be enough. There must be a much bolder, comprehensive and visionary strategy in place around capturing and inspiring hearts and minds, especially in terms of the youth.

This has grown into a major MeshWORKS initiative and we plead with all of you to assist us. We believe there is a great deal at stake for our future, and that of our children. We are doing everything we can with limited resources, but our team is dedicated to the task. "

Of course, Spiral Dynamics has considerable implications for organizations as well as nation-states, click below for to Learn more about Spiral Dynamics conceptual foundations through Don's 6-day Certification courses in Santa Barbara, California, November 10-15, 2008. If you have special applications in mind for spiral dynamics, you can also join a 3-week online dialogue, taught by Darrell Gooden following the seminar.

. . .receives 7th and 8th Honorary Doctorate

This spring, Dr. Ichak Adizes received his 7th and 8th Honorary Doctorates from the Acadmy of Finance of the Russian Federation, and from the University of Montenegro. The trip was quite revealing:

While giving a lecture in Kiev to 300 executives and MBA students, Dr. Adizes realized that his overhead slides were accidentally placed at a 90 degree angle, but no one corrected him. He intentionally repeated the error while teaching a master class in Moscow to see what would happen. “I realized that there was something Communism had done: People will accept anything authority does - - from fear, from respect, or from what I do not know - - but they will accept and bear any condition imposed on them by authority. In this cultural milieu, how worthwhile is it to teach entrepreneurship? It seems that a cultural revolution must accompany the political revolution before true market economy can be established in these countries.”

Dr. Adizes proposes that this effect was caused by an imposition of 'style' on the people of the country. Adizes methodology includes four identifiable styles with healthy and pathological characteristics: the 'A'dministrator, the 'E'ntrepreneur, the 'P'roducer, and the 'I'ntegrator. In his latest Insight, he states:

"Communist-era buildings are all big and square, heavy and bombastic: glorified (A). The same is true for the buildings in Berlin from the Nazi era, or in Italy from the Fascist era, and have you seen Brazilia, which was designed by a socialist architect? But look how the Russians drive. You can tell a lot about the culture of a country and the style of a person by how they drive. In Russia, they each try to find a hole in traffic that they can exploit to move forward, ahead of someone else. Very Israeli- or Greek-style driving typical (E) or (P), and it certainly isn't (A). Nor do Russians have a translation for the word "efficiency", which is (A)'s raison d' etre, its slogan and badge of honor. I postulate that Communism was not culturally a natural fit in Russia. (A) was ideologically imposed."

The 30th annual International Adizes Convention will be held in Istanbul in July. For details, click here. In addition, the Adizes Institute will present a 2.5 day seminar introducing the Adizes methodology in Santa Barbara in November.

Click below to Learn more about Adizes and Spiral Dynamics seminars.

...Join your peers from all over the world...

The Adizes Graduate School core curriculum for the online Masters and PhD programs focuses on two unique and powerful methodologies for managing change without destructive conflict. These are the Adizes methodology and Spiral Dynamics.

Adizes Graduate School offers graduate classes on a term-by-term basis. Models of Conflict, taught by Dr. Bruce LaRue, is open for new students this Fall. Applying to Adizes Graduate School is free of charge and all documents can be found on our website. Join us!

Also, on November 10-15, 2008: plan to visit Santa Barbara, California, to participate in live seminars with Dr. Don E. Beck: Spiral Dynamics Natural Designs: Second Tier Leadership, Organizational Elegance & Integral Management

Don has been applying and refining spiral dynamics concepts for decades and we hope he will be teaching in Santa Barbara for a long time to come. But Don is 71 years old, and as critical world situations take precedent, those who want to learn more may not find Don so accessible. Now is the time to come to Santa Barbara to learn straight from "the man himself". Book your hotel room soon for the November 10-15 event! Santa Barbara a great resort destination, too!

Special room and seminar pricing discounts are available. Contact Edu@Adizes.com for details or visit the seminar webpage today!

Special guests include Darrell Gooden, an AGS Ph.D. candidate and Transformation Manager with the U.S. military. Darrell will discuss Adizes methodology and his ongoing case study in the military, which integrates both Adizes and Spiral Dynamics core principles. Darrell will be available to answer questions regarding how the AGS online Ph.D. program has facilitated his journey as an agent of change. His Ph.D. dissertation is focused on facilitating change in large bureaucratic organizations. Elza Maalouf has been co-teaching the Spiral Dynamics sessions to help illustrate both applications as an organizational consultant, and to facilitate understanding of the issues in the Middle East. Dr. Beck often invites surprise guests to Santa Barbara, too. (Who could resist an invitation to the Pacific Coast in November? )

If you have special applications in mind for spiral dynamics, you can also join a 3-week online dialogue, taught by Darrell following the live seminars. See the Registration Form for details at the link below...

For details on these events, online classs, and the AGS graduate programs, please click below to Learn More!