One of the biggest things I learned at the Kennedy Conference is that psychology in the hands of hucksters is an easy way to make money and build a career. Case in point: the resurgence in popularity of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
For those of you who don’t know, Maslow was a dude who was interested in studying people who are successful and well-adjusted (in his opinion). He wanted to understand higher states of performance, human motivation, and the ability to transcend the normal bullshit of human existence to operate on a higher level.
Maslow ranked the needs of humans and put the needs in a pyramid — kind of like an early version of the food pyramid. He believed it is important for human beings to poop — but a truly awesome and amazing person will only succeed if he poops, eats, feels safe, and becomes self-actualized.
- Self-actualized, you ask? What does that really mean?
Who the hell knows. It’s one of those elusive goals. You never quite get there because you’re human and flawed — so you keep paying gurus and yoga instructors and therapists and chiropractors to lead you down a path of self-actualization that doesn’t really exist.
I know this much.
- Maslow has a ton of detractors, some of whom believe that you can’t rank the human existence in such a banal, silly way. We all have basic needs that need to be met, but prioritizing them in a pyramid doesn’t fully demonstrate the complexity of human nature.
- Others believe that Maslow is full of shit and his research was faulty and sketchy, especially when he talks about self-actualization and self-transcendence. He created a theory that has a little psychology mixed in with a little Buddhism and a little Jung. It’s a nice theory, but the research doesn’t hold up.
I think one person’s self-actualization is another person’s sham. The people who followed Charles Manson had their basic needs met and felt that Manson’s philosophies gave them morality clarity, spiritual purpose, and a sense of being. Then they killed Sharon Tate.
*
Now back to this conference that I just attended. One of the keynote speakers alluded to Maslow’s theory, although he forgot to state that it’s a theory, and the speaker offered a career fitness regimen where you get all mentally buff & shit by taking ownership of your life and your career. I think the message is great in many ways. Don’t be a victim. Don’t be bullied by Corporate America. Stand up when an organization devalues your work. Be willing to walk away from the shenanigans in life that distract you from your personal goals.
- How do you do it? You do this by taking a personal inventory with the goal of self-actualization.
This is where career gurus can shove it up their asses, in my opinion. I think it’s elitist to suggest that a successful career is based on transcending basic human needs and changing the world. Gazing at your navel and aligning your career objectives and personal values with Maslow’s theory comes from being in a privileged position where your kids go to prep schools and you have time to contemplate the meaning of life and work.
For a majority of Americans, we work for money — good or bad. We try very hard to find work that doesn’t devalue our human existence; however, loving your job because it makes some kind of ‘spiritual sense for you’ is not an inalienable right. It’s a luxury afforded to a privileged class of people.
So if you want to find peace and self-fulfillment, don’t buy a book from any career guru who tells you that the key to your success at work is to basically build your self-esteem and feel good. It’s nonsense. You want to maximize your own potential and possibility at work? You want a great and fulfilling career?
- Show up,
- work hard,
- be humble,
- be opening to learning new things,
- and commit to doing a great job.
This is not rocket science, people. Maslow proved that.
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Thanks for using your bully pulpit to poke some sorely-needed holes in a theory that, though interesting to contemplate has, as you have demonstrated, little relevance in today’s complex workplace. “Be all you can be” is a nice marketing cut line. But all these psych theories assume we’re lab rats or, at our collective cores, driven by the the same “needs.” Daft, I call it.
I would be suspicious of anyone who relied too heavily on any one theory of motivation, much less Maslow’s, for the foundation of their career advice.
I could not possibly agree with you more. Thing is, those rules to a fulfilling career transcend everything – no matter what you do or where you go, if you follow those five little principles (which really ought to be common sense) you will do better than at least 75% of your co-workers. Heck, just showing up eliminates probably 40% of most places I’ve worked, and now that percentage is even higher.
Coming from an industry that worships at the altar of Maslow I’m very happy to another voice that sees Maslow as just another great story.
Unfortunately, it’s one that still sticks with many, many folks. I recently ran a poll on my site and 70%+ of the folks thought Maslow applies.
Not to plug to shamelessly but your readers might find the information interesting… Link to post on Maslow – http://tinyurl.com/apodrp
Oh, God, don’t get me started on gurus.
My rules for career success are similar to yours but even simpler:
1) Word hard
2) Never stop learning
3) Be likeable
The third one is more important than the other two combined, in my experience.
I think this comes down to the fact that your job is not your “calling,” it’s your job. And I think “self actualized” is meant to imply tht you need to find your true calling – and in this case it’s meant to be your job.
I love my job. I’m great at my job. I even make a wage that’s I think is good. But I hardly think it’s my life’s mission to make presentations on managing Gen X and create webinars about Twitter.
I wasted wayyyyy too much time of my career unsatisfied because I was expecting spiritual fulfillment from my JOB. What crap. A job is what you do to get the money to do the things that fulfill you, or, at the least, the things you like to do, like travel to Europe or eat expensive food. So yeah — the key is to do your job well so you can keep doing it and advance and make more money.
Spot on. It’s a dangerous combination: basic conference speaking skills, porcelain teeth for the book cover photo, a dash of pop pyschology and a pitch that makes a difficult business idea sound easy = guaranteed money spinner.
What’s your take on the 4 hour work week, this seemed to be the mother of “it’s so easy!”… but it made for an amusing blog post:
http://iloveclosing.com/2009/05/18/jenna-jameson-and-the-four-hour-work-week/
Stop by sometime
The Closer
Bah, gurus. I follow the career advice of PattyCat.
1. Switch effortlessly between obsessing over small details and gazing at the big picture.
2. Remain curious about new things. Jump right into them.
3. When you want acknowledgement, don’t just sit back and hope the big boss notices you. Sit on her laptop (in a figurative sense, unless you’re actually a cat).
4. Be secure in your sense of self. Smug, even.
The only advantage to Maslow adherents as gurus is that they don’t usually shed heavily four times a year.
Wow Laurie! You really gored that sacred cow. Thank you.
True most of us work for money. Any motivational guru who says differently has not experience life as the other 90% of us have. I wince every time I hear someone say that money doesn’t motivate people. Perhaps not when one has reached Nirvana, but in the meantime it helps feed the kids, dog, cat and pay off the college debt.
I worked once for an airline whose VP of Flight Ops had the following printed on cards for his pilots:
Clean up
Suit up
Show up
Don’t fuck up or you will kill yourself and others.
Something there for all of us.
I think one of the only careers where one should be and potentially CAN be “self-actualized” is when one is a nun.
Thanks for the free therepy Laurie. I owe my pops a phone call this morning…he taught me all about Maslow…but focused on the bottom-middle. You got your health, roof, etc and some LOVE…you got it good…the rest is all gravy….and damned if he wasn’t right. I work to go to on vacation, pay for private school, and sleep well as night…Lucky I enjoy what I do but “self-actualized”….whatever.
I agree that anyone that embraces one theory and holds it up as the only way is asking for it, but I always listen and take away those things that seem like common sense.
Maslow to me has always just been common sense stuff. You pay people with a fair wage, give them the environment to succeed and for the most part, they’ll be productive. Your five principles are also common sense. I like common sense. I add a few to your list for the employer: Compensate fairly, don’t create an environment where assholism thrives, be honest always.
It’s not hard stuff, you don’t need a guru for it. That said, I’m a fan of Chip Conley and his interpretation of Maslow within his hotel chain (joie de vivre). Even he would be the first to say its common sense.
Amen! My MBA has a so-called emphasis in HR Management in which almost every HR core mentioned Maslow. My undergrad actually has a minor in social psych, so I’ve known Maslow for many years, but by the time I was done with the MBA, and as someone with many years of HR experience already under my belt at the time – I was beyond pissed. As others have pointed out, it’s a theory and has no business being linked to practical application/education… and I’m beyond amazed at how many people have learned to use the internet and a lil bit ‘o psych theory and call themselves a guru.
People that rely on Maslow’s theory to explain anything should be avoided. Maslow developed his hierarchy to explain human development; how we change from infant to older adult. It was only way after that he tried to use it as a theory of motivation. And it never worked very well.
Modern psychology (I/O Psychologists in da hizze!) has developed a number of different models of human motivation. Some work better than others, and each only explain an aspect of human motivation. Humans are complex and it is difficult to capture all behavior variability into a single pyramid, no matter how many colors it has.
Having said that, I think gurus rely on the pyramid because it is relatively easy to understand. Also it has appeared in every entry-level business class I can think of. When you are trying to explain a difficult concept to a roomful of people that demand executive presentations for executive presentations, we need simple. Every time I try to explain something a little bit more complicated I can literally hear the cranial assplosions.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Amen.
Use these theories if they help to illustrate, motivate toward or otherwise direct to the basics: Be Nice, Work hard, and Keep an Open Mind. Otherwise you’re in danger of peddling a red herring.
Punk on, Laurie!
Were there any speaker ay @kennedyinfo who talked about Pavlovian conditioning as a theory for career success?
I am looking for a new angle niche on my speaking career now that you have completely fucking killed Maslow!
There is always McGregor.
http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_03_mcgregor.html
Dude, why don’t we pump the brakes on this one, ‘cuz I think you are way way out of your league on this one. What you fail to realize is that all of our problems can be solved in 1 of 3 ways:
1. The judicious use of supplements or drugs
2. The adherence to any nebulous unproven or misapplied concept that promise a nirvanic perfection, but fails to disclose the fine print
3. Through the purchase and use of anything Billy Mays sells
Maslows Hierarchy clearly falls into category 2, and is therefore valid. Who cares that in order to maintain self actualization, you would have avoid any potential stimuli, thus causing you to freak out and fall out of self actualization anyway.
But I ramble on, in order to achieve true happiness in your life, all you need to do is send me $19.95 and a SASE for your True Bliss Starter Package, which contains 5 recipes using bacon (including my favorite – bacon wrapped bacon), an allegedly autographed photo of Ghandi (O.K. so maybe it’s a picuture of Sir Ben Kingsley from the movie Dave), an aqua marine silicon bracelet with the words “I’m Happpy” (sorry I have 10 thousand with the spelling error, but realize YOU deserve the extra “p” because YOUR on the road to self improvement), and a catalogue of my other self improvement products that you cannot live without.
If you order now, I’ll double your offer, and offer you advanced booking on my “Clean, Paint, and Wallpaper Your way to Joy” weeklong retreat. Spaces are limited, VIP registration is only $14,999.
Laurie – Have a great holiday weekend!
If you were starving you wouldn’t give a crap about laying into Maslow on this blog – why? Because there’s some truth in it. Some.
@Stress Mark: You’re correct, but then again – there’s “some” truth to many theories, but alas, that’s why they are “theory” and are so difficult to prove out. The theory as a whole, however, is way over-simplified, over-used, and therefore most often incorrectly applied and hence why so many people are frustrated by it. A piece of a puzzle does not a puzzle make…. a piece of a theory that may have some truth, should not pulled out of context of the intended purpose of the theory itself (true or otherwise) and shoved into a consulting or guru’s box of tools so that it can be manipulated to try and make a point or a buck. Just sayin’
You hit it on the head, again!
It’s also important to be able to realize when it’s time to go; for your own good or for the company’s good.
I’m no apologist for any guru….ever. But in terms of Maslow, lets be clear that the hierarchy of needs was first published in the early 40′s and nearly 70 years later it is still being debated as a relevant theory. To wash it away would be foolish.
As for work and self actualization. If someone were to ask you the question “Tell me about you?” how soon would you mention your employment? My guess would be the first 60 seconds. That tells you all you need to know about work and identity.
@Ken I will be all I can be on my own time.
@Minion I wonder how Maslow — and some of the other psychologists out there — would feel about all this?
@KellyO You do get credit for showing up in our society, which is kind of sad.
@Paul I love it and there is no shame on Punk Rock HR.
@Elise You know why I have five cats? They’re all likable. That’s the key, isn’t it?
@GenX I think it’s awesome to have a calling and to be self-actualized, but the paternalistic structure of corporate america wants you to think that you can be self-actualized at work. You’re focused on your own failure to understand your career/calling instead of looking at the real issues of the business that impact your career: profitability, compensation, process, ethics, etc.
@Class I really want to know more about myself and my motivations; however, I’m with you and I want to eat great food and travel. I’ll work hard and travel and self-actualize on my own time.
@Closer The four hour work week is so redonk.
@Perrik Patty Cat is my new guru, even with all the shedding!
@ali OMG, brill. So simple and clear. Love it.
@Rool Or Buddhist monks, maybe?
@Dina Call pops!
@Nel I don’t know that hotel chain… and now I’m intrigued. I’ll go poke around and learn more.
@alphafemme Anything in a pyramid — gameshows, food, tourist attractions, Maslow — will be easy to understand by the masses.
@George Maslow is on the SPHR exam for HR professionals, and I rolled my eyes and blacked out.
@Julie I try to keep an open mind even though I seem like such a blowhard. It’s a good way to live!
@Michael It’s funny you mention Pavlov because I almost wrote about how I’d like to peddle some other psychological stuff I learned in the 8th grade to business practitioners. I had Pavlov in mind!
@HRPuf You are speaking at the First Annual Punk Rock HR Conference. It will be by a pool — with beer and margaritas. Stay tuned.
@StresMark I talk about all kinds of shit regardless of my income, and I’ve been at both ends of the income spectrum. Put this topic the pile. It has nothing to do with the validity of the theory.
@Shelley The best time to leave is before someone tells you it’s time to go!
@TheHRD I’m picking up what you’re putting down, yo, but I am dismissing it as the foundation for a tool that will help you to rebuild your career in this economy. Also, I would not talk about my job. I shy away from career topics because it’s both personal and professional for me. I’d like to talk about something other than work. I talk about my cats and define myself by Mr. Scrubby.
I was afraid to read this. All those years of success based on this concept taken to task. What was I thinking? Peoples’ needs aren’t pyramid-shaped, they’re more cloud-like. OK, just jokin’.
What I remember as an engineer-turned-HR guy is hearing speakers like the one you refer to many years ago, and that being on piece of my learning. Not necessarily a piece of truth or fact, just another piece. Weighed against my practical experience through to and including yesterday, I’d have to say that Maslow’s work has not been foundational in anything I’ve ever done, including two start-ups and a couple of closures.
Kelly O’s comment regarding common sense made me smile. Our experiences are none to common, really, so I think “sense” is diverse. We have diverse sense. Weird.
@Laurie – Clearly we differ again! But perhaps you are not atypical? Do an experiment with 100 people and I guarantee that over 90% would talk about their occupation within the first minute. Because whether we like it or not we spend so much time at work that it does become part of our identity.
Look when they closed the mines and the steel works or when then they close the factory in a one factory town. Sure it takes the jobs from people and the money, but you will hear time and time again how they relate that it also takes their identity and their purpose. People who are unemployed talk about sensing a loss of worth a loss of pride.
These are blue collar manual workers. This isn’t about the priviledged classes, the whole labour movement was sporn out of the desire to have a collective identity from the working relationship. The privelidged classes are those (like me) who get to sit around on our backsides discussing the relative merits of Maslow!
@Tim G My needs come in the shape of a cat. And bacon.
@TheHRD I’m not sure it’s healthy for people to relate so closely to their jobs — it keeps people safe, meets their short-term needs, but it stifles innovation and creates a weird codependency. We meet our employees’ basic needs and create a dependent class of workers. I’m not comfortable with it… but that’s another post for another day.
@Laurie – I’ve responded in detail on my site. All part of good healthy….and lively debate!
Wow, all of the crap they teach us, our kids, and yes even still discussed in the PHR/SPHR Shrm manuals. You nailed it correctly Laurie, one has to be true to their selves and just work hard. I will get to the self actualization stage when I win the Mege-millions lottery…opps I forgot I have a better chance of getting struck by lightning in my pool, so much for contemplating my life…sigh…guess it’s back to hard work on Tuesday…
Yep; gotta agree with you here. Been reviewing these “theories” for ten years as I facilitate a well-know certification prep course… I remind my students these are THEORIES. they’re interesting, thought-provoking, and won’t help you at all when someone brings a gun (or knife) to work, shows up so drunk they are still wearing the clothes they were clubbing in, comes to work in a bathrobe (and nothing else), makes love on the conference table, leave all sorts of unmentionable web sites up on their public monitor for everyone to see…
No, Maslow’s theories didn’t teach me how to deal with all these actual events (the names have been changed…).
What does help is to take a deep breath, and know that one day it will be nothing but a funny memory.
Spot on, once again.
After 15 years in corporate, I’m now working in a college bookstore, schucking out gum, calculators and PSY 101 handbooks … and couldn’t be happier. Granted, it’s a job to tide me over, but it’s perfect for me and I’m loving it at this time in my life (esp. when I was out of work for longer than I want to admit).
I show up early, take interest in people and give 150%, even if I’m sweeping the floor at closing. It’s a job, I have my responsibilities and I’m providing a service. What more do I need right now? Not much. My reward? Compliments from customers and a possible promotion to a full-time (with benefits! whoo hoo!) because I’m one of the few in the store who gets it, understands it and is willing to do it. Sometimes, it really IS that simple.
I often reflect on my father, who slugged it out day and day out for almost 40 years at Bethlehem Steel. I defy anyone to try and grab his attention for more than 5 seconds on the idea that work could even remotely foster his own self-actualization. “That’s why they call it work,” he would say. He did it so he could provide a decent life for himself and his family. It was that simple.
Laurie,
You absolutely fucking rock! Just got a chance to get caught up on your blog – and I love this post.
Tim
@Tim Thanks.
@HRCrout OMG, I say that all the time. Your father worked for Bethlehem Steel? My grandfather worked for LTD steel. They don’t call it work fer nuthin.
@Simone You are our mascot.
@Christopher I love how you give us a perspective.
@ATCNow You’re such an optimist.
I am just wondering how many people who have written comments – or indeed the original author – have actually read Maslow’s original paper? Now, I must be clear in saying that I am not necessarily a Maslow fundamentalist but it strikes me from many of these comments, that people have not actually read the original paper, but seen some kind of pyramid type diagram in a HR text or business book and have made their opinion based on that. This in itself shows one of the major issues we have in society – people tend to believe what they read. Just to clarify some issues:
1. There is NO pyramid diagram in Maslow’s original paper originally published in the Psychoogical Review, 50, 370-396 in 1943. Yes, there is talk of a hierarchy of needs but why does this necessitate to being a strict pyramid? Indeed on page 380 / 381 of the paper Maslow talks about ‘fixity of the hierarchy’ in which he states that the order of the hierarchy is not as rigid as might be first thought and that there are several examples of why such a rigid hierarchy might not be representative.
2. Maslow’s paper is based on HUMAN motivation, not necessarily motivation to work. Now quite clearly, to achieve ones basic needs, one needs to gain enough ‘currency’ (physical money / exchange of services or whatever) to survive and in the modern world, work is a major part of that. But, where in his paper does this talk about work being anyone’s raison d’etre? In fact, when he speaks of self-actualisation (see pages 378/9) he states ‘the specific fomr that these needs take will vary from person to person’ and gives examples of motherhood, art, sport and others as possible areas although these are not exclusive.
3. The hierarchy – as he explains – is not an all or nothing phenomenon. He talks about this in that you might have 75% of your basic needs mets, whilst 60% of your safety needs met to say 5% of self actualisation. It seems people appear to take this model as linear and that once you complete one section, you move on to the next. To me this thinking is far too basic! The reality is that we will all, on a daily basis, shift around the hierarchy dependent on how our circumstances might change. We may deviate very little in times of prosperity or steady state or quite a lot, like in times of recession when there is fear of losing jobs / homes or whatever.
Anyway I could go on but I hope I have made some reasonable points. It is important to examine and analyse the sources of such ‘models’ that are presented in books as they are rarely critically analysed and in fact their simplicity often leads to incorrect interpretations – as in my own opinion has happened in some instances here. I would urge people to have an analytical mind when they read any material and look to the original source and then decide for yourself. Time consuming – VERY. Worth it – that’s up to you to decide for yourself, if you want to base your opinions and the way you live your life on someone elses interpretation (often incorrectly) of another’s work.
Hopefully this will be seen as some constructive debate towards this conversation and I hope that at least some of you who read this get some value from my comments.
Best wishes, Matt
BSc (Hons), BBA (Hons)
@Matt: Thanks for taking the debate where it needs to go: back to the original source. Judging Maslow’s work based on the manure peddled by motivational speakers is kind of like judging life in New York based on “Sex In The City”; sure the landmarks are where they’re supposed to be, but the little details are a bit off the mark.
For my part, I applaud Maslow for at least trying to analyze what makes the extraordinary people tick. Freud and Jung focused on the “mentally ill” and how to “cure” them; neither seemed to spill a lot of ink on defining what a baseline status of mental health actually meant. How much water his theories hold is less relevant than the fact that he made the attempt.
As far as self-actualization goes, I’d like to point out that, absent a pressing need for “self-actualizing” guides, programs, retreats and all that rot, none of them would exist. Yes, people are miserable at their jobs. Why? Why is it *necessary* for jobs to be demeaning mechanisms to grind the human spirit down to nothing? Is it tradition, because that’s how the previous managers got ahead and by jiminy, that’s what everyone else will slog through?
Ha ha- what a bunch of psychobable crap that the rich feed to the working class poor to make them feel better about spending a lifetime working for someone else’s ultimate “fulfillment” and “self-actualization”. Those who have the money also have the time to travel wherever they wish, study whatever they wish, and live however they wish. That is self actualization at its finest- plain and simple.