Human evolution is a fascinating subplot in the history of life on Earth. What makes us different is our ability to walk upright and our large brain. Upright walking evolved first about four million years ago. Our branch of the Hominin tree of life, Homo sapiens, are currently judged to have arrived on the world stage about three-hundred-thousand years ago. As well as evolving a large brain, how we use that brain has been, and continues to evolve too.
On this podcast I am going to explore a psychological model that maps out the evolution of human thinking. This model was developed by Clare Garves, and it details how humans think, what motivates us, how we like to organise ourselves because of that, and how that thinking changes over time. When I look at the world through this Gravesian lens the world becomes much easier to understand. Don Beck, who worked with Clare Graves used this system to advise the South African government as it transitioned away from apartheid in the early 1990s. It is useful for leaders, managers, and coaches, because it can give you a sense of the different motivational hot buttons that people have, and how someone’s thinking might evolve next. It also helps us to understand what might be next for humanity, if we continue to evolve that is.
