2.7 Red

"Power Gods," Impulsive, Egocentric

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Red is the first of the 5 Central Spiral Dynamics stages I will focus on in our discussions. I’m calling these the “Central” stages because the have high visibility, have high numbers and influence, or have high potential for recovering from our current cultural problems. While the numbers of adults still in Red are probably under 15%, this is a stage that makes a lot of noise despite its size.

Large and in charge?

Yeah, in more ways than one. The previous stage (labeled Purple), mostly seen in youth and adolescence is more tribal or family-centered, so Red is where we realize we are distinct from the tribe and we break from group restraints. Since we don’t have a lot of experience in the wider adult world, our repertoire of adult behaviors is limited. Since we are rebelling against the previous stage, we tend to be largely irritating to most adults.

How so?

Here’s a list of phrases pulled from various descriptions of the Red^⁠ level:

• Egocentric, impulsive

• Colorful and creative

• I do what feels good right now

• I will learn something if I am rewarded for the effort; make it worth my time!

• Struggles with the System/authority

• Paradoxically, Reds are ok with dictators (role models)

• Outsiders, beware!

• Might makes right

• To victors belong the spoils

• Unable to look at self objectively; high ego involvement; very defensive; takes things personally; high agitation under pressure.

Those sound really extreme!

That’s right. Just sit with these words for a bit, “might makes right, to victors belong the spoils.” This is deeply felt and deeply different from a psychologically mature adult’s worldview. Luckily most of us go through this at a much younger age when we are acting out kids being parented through this period so the damage we do is localized and minimized. But the later this stage manifests, the more of it leaks out and the rest of the world has to deal with it. So the challenge is getting through Red.

This discussion is aimed at those whose center of gravity is still Red in their adult years. This is the first stage of our experiencing significant independence! Our unspoken motto could be “Ready! Fire! Aim!’ We are breaking free from family and “tribe,” and it is easy to go overboard. Red is our first taste of independence, so we are making inconsistent stabs at dealing with adult reality, and we can be quite awkward.

My niece is acting kind of like this at work. She often complains about customers or her boss, making everyone else sound like miserable human beings. Then I hear her say something I might have said 30 years ago. Hmmm…maybe she and that earlier version of me are pretty Red, huh?

That’s possible, and remember, at times, we all can feel, say, or do something pretty Red-like when we get overwhelmed or under-resourced1.

Why is that? Doesn’t development mean that we grow out of that?

We mostly do. There is a wonderful quote attributed to Victor Frankl, a Holocaust Survivor:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”¹

So much wisdom here! Maturing, which is the same as developing through the stages, is the slow process of increasing the space between stimulus and response to give us time to think or remember that we know a better way. The payoff in the last sentence is that each time we reinforce this skill, we grow and expand our freedom from our automatic reactions.

Ahh, I just want to take that in for a moment…

While we transcend the overuse of old behaviors that are out of place in civil environments, we can still include them, like if we are physically attacked. That means we don’t forget the behaviors of our previous stages, although most of us learn to moderate the negatives and improve on the positives from each stage.

Positives? What are the positives of Red?

All of the stages of maturing have positives. After all, each new stage is our human attempt to solve the problems of previous stages, and to some extent, they do! Reds need to break from Purple to become self-sufficient adults. Being “colorful and creative” signals this break. Having “struggles with the system” can help us if we know how to listen and identify problem areas in an organization, like the need for supervisor training so they can handle Reds.

I think these people are a pain in the ass. I think this is definitely a stage we can do without!

Many would agree, but no stage can be skipped. As much as Reds push my buttons, I know there are things we can do to help them grow through this difficult stage. Let’s look at an approach that considers two factors: one’s willingness and ability to do what we want. How do we motivate Reds to follow rules, and how do we give them the knowledge and skills to do so? We have to do our part. After all, Reds are not yet experienced (able), and given the rebellious nature of this stage, they are not very willing!

What do you suggest when dealing with Reds?

Well, you have to be, as with all stages, flexible and experimental, but once you see what works, here are a few guidelines.

• Be clear, dependable, respectful, and consistent; follow through on rewards and penalties. Repeat expectations as often as necessary.

• Be willing to stand up to resistance; be willing to accept the discomfort of holding others accountable.

• Don’t get too fancy. Using accountability methods designed for later stages isn’t understood by Reds. Simple, timely rewards and penalties are easy to understand.

• Don’t fret over mistakes. Apologize and move on.

It feels weird to treat a mature adult this way. I could embarrass them or myself easily.

When it comes to development, age does not equal stage! Sometimes, people at the Red stage may be older chronologically than their behavior would suggest, and so they sometimes surprise us when they fail to do their job or behave politely. Other times, people who are more mature can revert to earlier stage behavior when everyone around them is at an earlier stage. In that instance, we may just need to remind them they are the grown-ups in the room.

Red is the first of the Tier 1 stages I will be describing. Spiral Dynamics identifies two previous stages: Beige, which is mostly about infants and toddlers, and Purple, which mostly covers childhood and early adolescence. These two, plus Red, Blue, Orange, and Green, are all binary, either/or thinking stages. As far as the Red stage goes, you are friend or enemy; if you are not with me, you are against me.

Note about sources. For the Spiral Dynamics articles labeled with colors, I have relied upon the various Spiral Dynamics references on the References page.

1. According to The Viktor Frankl Institute, he never said this. It was attributed to him by Steven Covey, and it stuck. I can’t find any other source.