Chapter 1 - Part 2

Business Madness: Unraveling the Paradox of the People Puzzle (Power - People - Profits)                © 2006 Larry & Pat Nelson          Chapter 1 - Part 2

NOTE: If you haven't read Chapter 1 - Part 1 of "Business Madness" read it first. Check it out on the link in the right-hand column.

Let’s Dig a Little Deeper so We Can Master the Mystery of Motivation

Hopefully you are familiar with Abraham H. Maslow. His 1954 book, "Motivation and Personality" was quite audacious at his time and is now ‘the’ standard for helping understand what makes people tick and why they are motivated to do almost anything. Most everyone who has taken a management class is familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. If not, you might want to trade Business Madness in for some light reading.

Here’s a little Maslow review. He laid out a hierarchy, his five levels of motivation in an understandable order, often referred to Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. Firstly, human kind is going to pursue satisfying their physiological needs; air, food, sex, shelter, sleep warmth and water before they go onto satisfying other needs. Not far behind is the urge to take care of their security needs and those needs are a combination of both ‘physical’ concerns; safety, health and pain and ‘psychological’ concerns; illness, five senses and financial security. Financial security dons many hats in the industrial countries.

Actually, for most people in our nation we do not have overwhelming concerns about our physiological and security needs on a day-to-day basis, so the craving to fulfill our love/social needs is most compelling. That is the innate core of our Mental Roots. We have the need to be accepted rather than rejected (a little bit of peer pressure here) and a strong need to belong (even when we say we don’t care). Frequently we are asked to conduct some business workshops based on PrimeFactorAnalysis which revolves around the application of our Mental Roots and personal perspective.

Another important component of our love/social needs is we have a strong natural sense to give, in order to receive (it’s easy see that others can mess with this) in addition to being needed so we can get a payoff (whether it’s physical like money or psychological which could simply be a thanks for helping out). In short, we want to be accepted for who we are and secondly to be able to give of ourselves and get something in return for our effort. Sounds fair, but it can be a challenge.

Then our drive as it ascends the hierarchy turns to self esteem and with all the ego maniacs around, you might think this is first on the list. Status symbols and show-stopping accolades as well as craving to be perceived as important are big here. For many, the driving force is what other people think (even those who say they don’t care, really care). Yes there is a deserving side of self esteem in the mix. That is being happy and proud of ourselves and not being as concerned with the views of others. But it sure is super to get both.

In Maslow’s hierarchy, self actualization is at the top of the heap. Some look at this as the reward for fulfilling the other four needs. Some of us with a mathematical bent (with a hint of a futurist) say self actualization is the some total of the fulfillment of the other four needs plus their future goals. The purists suggest self actualization is becoming as much as you can. In any event, self actualization is an ongoing process and not a destination. Like Thomas Carlyle said, "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal."

As we take a look at and experience this hierarchy of human needs, we can see we all have various needs, on a moment-to-moment basis, begging for attention to be fulfilled. If we want to eat, odds are we’ll eat. If we are starved for attention because our self esteem needs are not fulfilled, we might have to put that craving on the back burner. It’s important to realize that fulfillment of needs is situational, timelines vary and it gets more complex higher up on the hierarchy.

If it were just needs that motivated us, it would make understanding others a great deal easier. In fact it would help us understand why we do or don’t do some of the things on our plate. Don’t fret, we’re now going to take a look at a dicey issue, out of body programming. The thing that plays around with our need fulfillment is our values. Values can be illusive, idiotic and insensitive. Values can be positive or negative, good or bad and they invite us to become the big judge…for better or for worse.

Defining needs and values is a great deal easier than understanding them. That understanding however can make the difference between getting along with others, persuading them to go along with your way of thinking and a host of other relationship scenarios. That understanding will help yield the results in your life, and you will feel ultimately successful, personally and professionally.

Here’s the difference with what seems like two unlikely partners, needs and values. While we are born with needs, our values are programmed into us. For example, we are born with the need to eat food. However, what we eat, how much and even how we eat is an outcome of values that are learned. I grew up as a young boy in northern Wisconsin. Our diet was quite bland on bland…very little seasoning.

My father worked for "the" telephone company so we moved around. That was back in the days when people worked for one company most of their lives. When we moved to Milwaukee, some new friends took me out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Much to my surprise, I had no idea what salsa was. On my first bite, I choked, swallowed it by accident, started sweating with a reddened face and became speechless. My value system as it related to eating was based on bland on bland. Some at this point are ready to be the great judge and explain which way is best.

To bland or not to bland is not the question, that’s a diversion from the discovering and understanding the mystery of motivation.

Needs and Values – Key Differences

Here’s a major difference between needs and values. We will always have the need to eat food. But what we eat is experience and value based, and that can change…values are changeable. Today I love hot spicy foods from all over the world. Here’s the complex part. All the needs defined on Maslow’s hierarchy have a number of learned values impacting their fulfillment and how that is seen and judged by others. We are born with needs and they never really go away or change, however the learned values are malleable to say the least. Here’s a point to remember, our behavior or outward expression of our values is judged by others. Yes that is very superficial.

Do we care? Well before you commit to an answer, let’s take a look at what happens along the way as we develop and adjust our set of values. That’s our job, however there are many who try to manage, manipulate and even manhandle our values development. Our behaviors, be they overt expressions of joy or disappointment as well as the absence or avoidance of any behavior are what other people observe, and voila they now feel they are entitled to make a judgment. Entitled or not, they most often do.

Before we venture any further into this maze of people discoveries, let’s take a look at the process that needs and values go through to the surface. If you reflect on and remember this simple three-stage process, understanding self and others comes much easier.

Stage One:
- Needs are innate and for all practical purposes never change
- Values are programmed into us and can change many times

Stage Two:
- Needs begin to surface in terms of feelings
- Values begin to surface in terms of preferences

Stage Three:
- Needs surface as generic actions
- Values surface as specific behaviors

The following works with our basic or physiological needs, but becomes more complex with needs higher on the hierarchy. Here they are played out in all three stages.

Needs Stages 1 - 3:
Stage One, we have the need to eat food
Stage Two, we begin to feel hungry
Stage Three, we take action and eat

Values Stages 1 - 3:
Stage One, we have expectations about the food we want eat
Stage Two, we have strong preferences about what we want to eat
Stage Three, we eat what we want, given the choice

But that’s not the end of the scenarios. We are complex beings and we never seem to let well enough alone. There’s something in us that knows that others are judging us. So that inner voice says it can help us hide some of our deepest and even dark desires. This is not to suggest that our inner thoughts, values and preferences are bad or negative. People who are interacting with us, personally or professionally, tend to be curious (sometimes downright nosey) about who we really are and how we think. Some just feel it’s none of their business and we’ll cover up any hint of our values and preferences...especially if we feel our privacy is being invaded. That’s when we are possibly creating a chain reaction of trouble and disappointment.

Come back next week for Part 3 of 3. Comment below or email us at radio@w3w3.com

P.S. Last week we received a number of emails and only a couple postings. If you are new at this Blogging thing, you don't need a memebership or special code to comment. Give it a try, we would love to get your feedback.

Comments

[Jim Kreinbrink]

Larry and Pat,

I like the introspective nature of this whole series. The awareness of what we call our "needs" is such a huge step in evaluating, refining, and redefining ourselves.

I especially like the part about being in the driver's seat - I've met a few marketing gurus that are adept at getting behind the wheel quickly. Whether that is good or bad depends on how they drive, and if you end up at your intended destination!

I'll be looking forward to the next chapter.