Yesterday by chance I came across two separate references to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model

  1. Polls trending the wrong way for Labor
  2. Philip Stott: Global Warming: the Death of a Grand Narrative

The articles suggested that Maslow’s hierarchy holds that before people worry about health, education and the environment they want to be secure with basic requirements for survival – economic security and personal safety. And that as these basics are undermined (by the Global Financial Situation) priority for these “luxuries” falls away.

This provoked me to research Maslow’s model. Basically this defines five successive levels on needs/requirements, which are -

  1. Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
  2. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.
  3. Belongingness and Love needs – work group, family, affection, relationships, etc.
  4. Esteem needs – self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.
  5. Self-Actualization needs – realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how these needs motivate us all.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself.

Only when the lower order needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.

Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned about the maintenance of our higher order needs.
www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm

In the light of the above, its instructive to apply this model to ones business and personal situation. It may well be time to review the nature of ones business, specifically -

  1. have the needs of your customer base changed over the last couple of years?
    Maybe the interest/demand in lifestyle products, wellness, education, entertainment etc have been replaced by a need for extra income and

  2. have your needs (your why) subtly changed without your recognition, maybe your lifestyle goals have become more a case of consolidating your basic financial situation, insuring stability in income etc, or maybe changing your focus to be able to provide more help to others as their circumstances erode.

Be interested in your comments.

PS I’m interested in the suggestion that personal development follows success it does not appear to be the driver, which many Gurus suggest, in advocating personal development are the route to success. It would seem that is driven more by need than design. Over to you.

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