Turning Maslow's Pyramid Upside Down
"Great teams are comprised of ordinary people that are empowered and inspired."
-Marty Cagan. "Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products"
We are all well familiar with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a.k.a. Maslow’s Pyramid. American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed it in his 1943 article, "A Theory of Human Motivation." In this article, Maslow came up with the motivational concept frequently displayed as a variation of the picture shown below:
According to this concept, our motivation is similar to our instincts. A person's motivation starts with basic physiological needs, such as the need for food, water, sleep, and warmth. Until these needs are met, a person won't be able to move to the next level of needs, which is Safety and Security. As people move up the pyramid, their needs become more complex. Each level enhances the social and psychological nature of human beings. As human beings move towards the top of the pyramid, their needs for love, friendship become more important, progressing further to personal esteem and feeling of accomplishment, referred to as self-actualization. Self-actualization is defined as a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential.
From our job and career perspective, this can be translated as moving from disengagement ("have to force myself to go to work"), lack of engagement ("I am only here for the money"), to a sense of belonging and personal contribution ("I feel valued"), then up to meaningful contribution ("I am proud to be here") to a high engagement ("I am making a difference"). The latter was described so well by Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly in his book " Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience." Here's a quote from this book: "To overcome the anxieties and depressions of contemporary life, individuals must become independent of the social environment to the degree that they no longer respond exclusively in terms of its rewards and punishments. To achieve such autonomy, a person … has to develop the ability to find enjoyment and purpose regardless of external circumstances." This can be described by an Engagement Pyramid below, a variation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
Modern guru of professional motivation Daniel Pink described self-actualization very well in three words "Mastery. Autonomy. Purpose" in his 2009 book "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us." His interpretation is also based on human instincts: "Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another." This concept of intrinsic motivation is close to Maslow's theory and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of "flow," though it focuses its analysis on the top of the pyramid.
Google validated another dimension of this concept in its 2012 Project Aristotle, a tribute to Aristotle's quote, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." In its attempt of understanding team effectiveness and defining a high-performance team, they found out five characteristics of high-performing teams:
1. Psychological safety: Everyone feels safe in taking risks around their team members and that they won't be embarrassed or punished for doing so.
2. Dependability: Everyone completes quality work on time.
3. Structure and clarity: Everyone knows what their specific expectations are. These expectations must be challenging yet attainable.
4. Meaning: Everyone has a sense of purpose in their work (i.e., financial security, supporting family, or helping the team succeed.)
5. Impact: Everyone sees that the result of their work contributes to the organization's overall goals.
These statements reflected the dimensions of Maslow's pyramid and almost mirrored the 2002 fable by Patrick Lencioni, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable." Many saw it as a book about organizational politics. However, these five dysfunctions are very similar to the same motivation boosters as found in Project Aristotle and the levels of Maslow's pyramid:
- Absence of trust: People are unwilling to be vulnerable within the group.
- Fear of conflict: People are seeking artificial harmony over constructive passionate debate.
- Lack of commitment: People are not willing to commit to group decisions.
- Avoidance of accountability: People are not taking the responsibility to call out peers or managers on counterproductive behavior, which sets low standards.
- Inattention to results: People focus on personal success and put their status and ego before team success.
It's hard to question any of these hypotheses since we experience and validate them in our daily lives and in every step of our professional experience. However, the last year and a half gave a totally new meaning to these concepts. Forbes referred to this as the 2021 "Turnover Tsunami."
In 2020, the Pandemic precipitated an economic shutdown that triggered devastating layoffs around the globe. But very soon, in 2021, the job market fully recovered with the opposite trend of a fresh wave of voluntary departures and resignations. Employers are taking extraordinary measures to attract and retain employees.
Let's review several examples from the lstest experience:
1. Top banks pay their first-year analysts (fresh college graduates) six-digit salaries and still struggle to bring the talent. These measures are still not bringing the desired results amid an ongoing war for talent between Wall Street and Silicon Valley, where many tech firms offer greater flexibility and a more compelling cause.
2. Employees flee employers who require them to come back to the office. They value their ability to work from anywhere and feel confident in doing meaningful work remotely. Forrester's data shows that 53% of employees want to keep working from home. Although Forrester's research suggests that 70% of companies will adopt a hybrid work schedule, not every organization will do so, and not every job will qualify.
3. We realized that life is short and developed an increased desire for it to be meaningful. Money and job security are no longer seen as the foundation of the hierarchy of needs. Young employees leave prestigious, high-paying jobs in bulk and take time to travel around the world or contribute their effort to a meaningful cause that helps them feel that they make a difference. This has been a deeply reflective experience for many people.
In sum, today, we are experiencing an inverted Maslow's pyramid:
People are not willing to stay in their jobs for money. They are intentional in their lives and their careers.
What do these trends mean for Agile organizations? As my experience during the last year and a half clearly shows, Agile teams and organizations are more stable. Team members in high-performing teams feel valued and heard and are less likely to leave an environment where they make a difference. They also have a clear sense of contribution. With their goals clearly expressed in Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), product roadmaps, and ongoing planning sessions, they have a sense of purpose and a vision of how to achieve it.
Agile teams are committed to delighting their customers and working backwards from their needs. Being able to solve problems for their customers makes their job meaningful. Team members on aligned product teams feel proud to be part of their team and inspired to change the lives of their customers for the better.
Agile teams are adaptive by nature. Adaptation is a characteristic of any Agile framework or methodology. Continuous improvement is built into Agile processes and, most importantly, mindset. Change is managed inherently, as part of the ongoing process, and is expected.
Mature Agile teams, in my experience, were the most successful ones in transitioning to the fully remote work during the Pandemic and balancing their transition to new normal nowadays.
These qualities of Agile – adaptability, resilience, team structure – create belonging and intentionality in a natural and organic way that makes Agile teams and even organizations successful in the modern reality of the inverted Maslow's pyramid.
References:
Marty Cagan (2021) "Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products," The Silicon Valley Product Group.
Mihaly Csikszentmihályi (1990) " Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience," Harper & Row.
Patrick Lencioni (2002), The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Jossey-Bass.
Abraham Maslow (1943). "A Theory of Human Motivation," originally published in Psychological Review, 1943, Vol. 50 #4, pp. 370–396.
Daniel Pink (2009). "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us," Riverhead Hardcover.
Project Aristotle (2012). "What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team: New research reveals surprising truths about why some work groups thrive and others falter." New York Times.
"First-year analysts at JPMorgan will now make $100,000." CNN.com. June 29, 2021. Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/29/business/wall-street-pay-jpmorgan/index.html
Why The 2021 'Turnover Tsunami' Is Happening And What Business Leaders Can Do To Prepare. Forbes, April 3, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/karadennison/2021/04/27/why-the-2021-turnover-tsunami-is-happening-and-what-business-leaders-can-do-to-prepare/?sh=48d25d54e6d0
The Great Resignation of 2021: Are 30% of workers really going to quit? The Tech Republic, May 25, 2021. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-great-resignation-of-2021-are-30-of-workers-really-going-to-quit/
Marty Cagan (2021) "Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products," The Silicon Valley Product Group.
Mihaly Csikszentmihályi (1990) " Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience," Harper & Row.
Patrick Lencioni (2002), The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Jossey-Bass.
Abraham Maslow (1943). "A Theory of Human Motivation," originally published in Psychological Review, 1943, Vol. 50 #4, pp. 370–396.
Daniel Pink (2009). "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us," Riverhead Hardcover.
Project Aristotle (2012). "What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team: New research reveals surprising truths about why some work groups thrive and others falter." New York Times.
"First-year analysts at JPMorgan will now make $100,000." CNN.com. June 29, 2021. Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/29/business/wall-street-pay-jpmorgan/index.html
Why The 2021 'Turnover Tsunami' Is Happening And What Business Leaders Can Do To Prepare. Forbes, April 3, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/karadennison/2021/04/27/why-the-2021-turnover-tsunami-is-happening-and-what-business-leaders-can-do-to-prepare/?sh=48d25d54e6d0
The Great Resignation of 2021: Are 30% of workers really going to quit? The Tech Republic, May 25, 2021. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-great-resignation-of-2021-are-30-of-workers-really-going-to-quit/
