Back in October 2020, I posted a feature, under the heading, ‘Your Foam of Organizational Bubbles’. We established and explored the thesis that, at any one time, we, each, belong to our own range of co-existing organizations. The feature described each of these organizations as an ‘organizational bubble’ and, employing the collective term, the range of ‘bubbles’ was described as ‘Our Personal Foam of Organizational Bubbles’.
We can be confident of two valid constants, which apply to each of these ‘organizational bubbles’.
- Your qualification to belong to a particular ‘bubble’ is, usually, quite different from your qualification to subscribe to any of the other ‘bubbles’ in your ‘foam’.
- Your identity, activities and place in the structure, in any of your ‘organizational bubbles’, only apply, whilst you are contributing within that ‘bubble’. Rarely can you assume or transfer an authority, which is inherent in one ‘bubble’ to any of the other ‘bubbles’, to which you subscribe. Can you imagine the reaction if you ever tried telling your ‘significant other’, what time he/she can go to lunch?
Perhaps, in our quest to identify the ‘bubbles’ in our personal ‘foam’, we are overlooking our membership of, probably, the largest ‘organizational bubble’ of all; The Human Race. As participants, in this huge and widely diverse organization, we are subject to all the needs and motivations that ‘just being human’ brings with it. The American psychologist, Abraham Maslow (1908 -1970), very ably, identified and described these needs and motivations in his paper entitled, ‘A Theory of Human Motivation’, published in 1943. It became known as ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’. I am sure that many of you are familiar with his theory.
In summary, Maslow maintained that everyone was subject to the same range of basic needs or motivations. He grouped them, in ascending order in his Hierarchy, so that more basic needs appear lower in the list, whilst the more esoteric needs appear higher. In ascending order, he identified the needs as Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem and, at the top of the Hierarchy, Self-Actualization. As a general principle, we do not seek to fulfil any higher order needs until lower needs have been met.
And so, in addition to taking on the responsibilities, activities and challenges unique to entering any of our ‘organizational bubbles’, we are, constantly, striving to fulfil the needs demanded by ‘just being human’. These needs are, always, with you. You can’t take three to work and leave two at home. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to fulfil all your ‘Hierarchy’ needs at work. For example, perhaps your job doesn’t, naturally, attract the esteem of your work colleagues. But your team mates, down at the pub, might regard you as a pretty fair darts’ player!
Recognising the consistent necessity to fulfil our human needs must be a priority in developing job descriptions and designing work environments.
It’s as important to have jobs for people as people for jobs.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs contributed to the DNA of the following Training Package.