The Integral Model is an all-encompassing theory developed by the American philosopher Ken Wilber. This theory is based on elementary insights from all major Eastern and Western knowledge traditions. With the help of the integral model you can, for example, indicate where someone stands in his/her development. The model consists of the following five elements: the four quadrants, developmental stages, personal development lines, types and states of being (AQAL).

The basis of the integral model is formed by the four quadrant matrix. Wilber established that all aspects in our living and working environment have an inner (subjective values ​​and motivations) and outer (objectively measurable behavior and manifestations) dimension, on both an individual and collective level. By viewing reality from these four dimensions, it becomes clear that development is an integral and cohesive whole.

The developments in each quadrant follow a certain pattern, development stages named. These stages are in line with well-known theories by Maslov, Keagan, Piaget and Suzanna Cook-Greuter, among others, in which the fixed sequence of different development phases is an important core fact. One of the ways to get a clear picture of these development stages is the application of Spiral Dynamics with which the value system and the perspective of each phase can be named.

To get an integral picture of an individual, one can also look at:

• personal development lines: how one has developed in cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, physical, moral and spiritual areas,

• typing: what influence do aspects such as gender, culture, Enneagram type, religion, age have?
• states of being: this concerns, among other things, the presence that a person manifests and the type of energy a person has, but also the development of spiritual awareness.

The integral model is, as it were, a map on which one can see where people – and related to this also an organization or society – 'hang out' in their development and where attention is needed. The use of the integral model teaches us that organizational development is at all times linked to personal and interpersonal development and that growth and change of people and organization always take place in interaction with the environment.

Want to know more? Download the IOS Introduction to Integral Theory