Ray said:
>For years I also thought Maslow was speaking of his Hierarchy as a
>progression in time but now I am not so sure.
I just wanted to add some of my thoughts on Maslow's Hierarchy. I am by
no means any kind of expert but I wanted to offer this:
I believe Maslow was trying to communicate to us...a hierarchy of needs
exists. It is not a growth process in that you move from level to the
next and live your life there. I like Ray's take from EM although I have
not read it...but have experienced this in my own life and seen other's
experience it. Our lives are lived on varying planes and in that
multidimensional living we experience varying degrees of the hierarchy on
differing planes at differing times.
For example, in relationships we could be in a survival mode, yet in our
career we could be at a higher level, while in our spiritual life we could
be experiencing a different phase of the hierarchy. I know that I have
oversimplified this example, not unlike, others who fail to understand the
essence of what Maslow was trying to give us in the way of understanding
our environment, self and the role motivation plays in inspiring action.
Obviously, motivation theories attempt to explain a very complex issue
that is constantly emerging, yet if one contemplates Maslow's work, it is
obvious that he is correct in drawing our attention to this complex web of
iteration surrounding a needs hierarchy. If we use it like a carrot and
stick mentality, it obviously "works at times" which causes us to
generalize it across all action--what gets rewarded get done, (Michael
Leboeuf)--yet if we can envision a prism of motivation we can see clearly
that understanding that there is a hierarchy of needs and that it makes
sense to understand a whole body can be in multidimensional planes at one
time, I think we can utilize the theory to begin to understand the natural
laws surrounding the emergence and sustainability of complex adaptive
systems.
Just a thought,
mike
--"Mike Jay" <Quarterback@msn.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>