What is this about?

The Modulator is a model that integrates the many different business and management tools available to us into a meaningful overall picture. Based on Integral Theory, it illustrates where they come from, which parts of reality they include and where their limits lie. Thus it quickly becomes clear which modules complement each other and which module makes another obsolete.

The model consists of two basic building blocks: Quadrants and Stages. Let's start with the latter:

Developmental psychology describes clear stages that human consciousness passes through in the course of its development. These stages of consciousness are universal and independent of culture, ethnicity or gender. Human development begins with birth and thus always at the very first stage. It then passes through the sequence of the subsequent stages in exactly that order. What this development looks like (the surface structure, so to speak), is strongly influenced by individual differences, the social and cultural context and other influences. However, the depth structure of the development always follows these rules.

The stages are represented in the model below as concentric circles, since each stage includes and builds upon the preceding stages. The model contains the stages Orange (rational, success-oriented, linear), Green (multi-perspectivistic, relativistic, emotion-oriented) and Teal (holistic, integrating, recognizes the development of consciousness; first stage of the Second Tier). There are others before and after these levels, but they do not currently have much influence on leadership and management.

The quadrants show four perspectives on reality, which are always available to us, at every moment and in every situation. None of them should be neglected, otherwise a quarter of reality will be ignored.

Unfortunately, most approaches do exactly that: they are limited to one or at most two quadrants (the natural sciences, for example, completely ignore the interior, i.e. the two left-hand quadrants) and try to explain everything with the laws of the right-hand quadrants. This often leads to a gross reductionism.

The modules below are assigned to one quadrant and one level each. The stage indicates the consciousness from which an approach originates, while the quadrant explains which section of reality it is primarily concerned with. In some cases this is a simplification, for example when a module works in more than one quadrant. In particular, all modules on Teal will per se include the lower levels and more than one quadrant.

The modules marked with our logo are part of our offer. The diamond marks approaches that we consider recommendable despite their inherent limitations. If you move the mouse over a module, in some cases other modules will light up. These are the tools that we would recommend to someone as a supplement to the first module.

Disclaimer: This model is for illustration purposes only and does not claim to be complete. Some examples are simplified and not correct under all circumstances.


Image of the modulator

INTERIOR - INDIVIDUAL


The Upper Left quadrant represents consciousness and its contents. While Upper Right would, for example, include the study of brain-evolution, Upper Left will explore the development of cognition. The essential concepts include perception, thought, feeling, sensing. The contents of the Upper Left quadrant can – in contrast to Upper Right – only be studied through interpretation i.e. in dialogue with the object of investigation.

EXTERIOR - INDIVIDUAL


The Upper Right quadrant is most prevalent in natural science. It deals with everything that can be perceived directly or indirectly through the senses; everything that has a “simple location”. This means that Upper Right examines structures like molecules, cells, organs, organisms, etc. If we look closely though, we notice that everything is studied from the outside: it can tell us about the composition of a reptilian brain – how it is organized and how it forms – but it tells us nothing about the interior experience of a turtle.

 Right View: AQAL applied Integral Coaching Personal Vision DevelopmentBig MindVoice DialogueEQmental EfficiencyCoachingMindfulness

No consciousness ever exists on its own but is always in relationship with others. It is in those relationships that structures such as language, morals and worldviews come into being. All of those are phenomena of the interior (without a simple location) and of the collective (they only exist in communities). The laws of these relationships are studied in the Lower Left quadrant.


INTERIOR - COLLECTIVE

All relationships between individuals possess exterior manifestations. These are the structures that make the exchange of ideas, thoughts and emotions possible. Human relationships for example give rise to social structures, governmental institutions, tools for communication, settlements, markets, educational institutions etc.


EXTERIOR - COLLECTIVE