Don Edward Beck’s dedication to service and discovery has seen him become profoundly involved in numerous global ventures. He has also been active for 50 years in working with corporate leaders, public institutions, educational enterprises, and NPOs on transformation and have visited South Africa 64 times.
In 1981, having taught for 20 years and been listed as “Outstanding Educator in America,” Dr Beck then chose to actively serve in the South African transformation process. Between 1981 and 2002 he made 63 trips to South Africa (SA), working behind scenes the scenes with political, business and religious leaders, and the general public in the transition from Apartheid to democracy. His visited SA again for the 64th time in 2013. He was honored in 1996 by a Joint Resolution of the Texas House and Senate. In addition to serving alongside Nelson Mandela on the creation of deep reconciliation strategies in the post-apartheid South Africa, Dr Beck has consulted with Tony Blair and his Policy Unit in search for new ways to implement “Third Way” initiatives in the UK and abroad, and with Bill Clinton in discussing racial issues in USA. He has also worked with the Singapore and Mexican governments.
While much of Beck’s work is in the field of large-scale systems change, he has also been active for 50 years in working with corporate leaders, public institutions, educational enterprises, and not-for-profit agencies on transformation. He is unique in that he moves freely between cutting-edge academic and scientific theories of value formation and change, and a proficiency in implementing practical and highly effective change in the real world.
Dr Beck has inspired thousands of people toward a new experience of organizational and personal empowerment through Spiral Dynamics, an extention of the work of Dr Clare W Graves, that concerns itself with the deep complexity codes that shape our many worlds. The model describes and makes sense of the enormous complexity of human existence, and then shows how to craft elegant, systemic problem-solutions that meet people and address situations where they are. He is the co-author of The Crucible (1991) and the classic Spiral Dynamics book (1996) He contributes actively to the www.spiraldynamicsglobal.com.