How are values classified under the categories of Foundation, Focus and Vision?

The Minessence Values Framework is comprises eight clusters of values and seven worldviews:

Where people map on the MVF depends on their worldview. For everyone there is a tug-o-war between self and other:

The balance point in the pull between self and other is mathematically determined by the centre of gravity of one's values--or non-mathematically, is determined thus (see diagram below): if you place all a person's values as blocks, each having a size proportional to their priority, on a beam, the balance point will be where the beam sits horizontally.

Below shows two different examples of applying this concept to mapping a person's values on the MVF:

The focus values are always above the balance point. The foundation values are to the left, the vision values are to the right.

Unless people are under the influence of drugs, there is always a mental dialogue going on between their current interpretation of their past, which is responsible for their foundation values, and their present interpretation of the future they desire, which is responsible for their vision values. (Greenfield, 2000) This dialogue synthesises their focus worldview with its associated values:

Why do the majority of values fall in three main clusters?

Q. I can not help wondering why the majority of values fall in three main clusters: Organizational, Self- Actualization & Emergent Order. Is this because this is where the majority of people are living their lives?

A. There are eight value clusters associated with seven world-views. At least two clusters are associated with each worldview. Chapter 6 of New Wisdom II describes how these values unfold in a person's life. The unfolding is from "simple to the complex:

• Values build on each other. We have to experience certain aspect of life before the concepts associated with come values can emerge. The early values which emerge in our life are related to much simpler concepts than those which emerge later in life.
• As we move from childhood to adulthood there's an "explosion" of values which come into our consciousness as we find ourselves in relationship to ever expanding and more complex systems -- family, friends, schools, organization, society, eco-system, etc. This explosion explains why there are so many values in the organization, self-actualization, and emerging order clusters.

Q. How does the balance affect individuals who do fall outside the norm? Does the tool accurately pick up such distinction?

A. No. In order to determine the balance point between focus on self and focus on global transformation, the AVI's algorithm determines the centre of gravity of the values on the values map. This process is like children (each child representing a value) on a see saw. Those in the middle have less influence on the balance point than those at the ends (representing self-preservation or global transformation). Both size (= priority) and position matter. Large size (= high priority) has more impact on the balance point than the same size (priority) at the middle.