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This weeks
Article....
Wal-Mart and Maslow’s
Hierarchy
How
Group Think is alive and
well
It’s Friday, know as Black
Friday in the US, the day after
Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day
in this holiday season. All these people
with members of their families go
shopping for the upcoming Christmas
season of sharing and giving.
We see many different faces of
society during this Holiday season; on
one side we see the thankful people
viewing what they have, sharing the
wealth with others and a spirit of
community. This is a great primer for the
upcoming Christmas season which is all
about the spirit of giving, thinking of
others and being part of the Human
Community.
So what the h*ll happened at
Wal-Mart! How does a giving caring
society trample a clerk to
death!
How does the same mob then feel
it’s unfair to close the store because of
a death! After all, they have been
waiting for hours!
How do good people turn into
such self-centered and self-justifying
mob? Perhaps
Maslow may provide some insight for them
and for you….
As you know, Abraham Maslow was
a psychologist that created the Hierarchy
of needs that drive most of our behaviors
and thinking. As we
fulfill each level of need, we move up
the levels and our lives are supposed to
be more full filled.
So how does this help to
understand a mob at Wal-Mart?
First a quick primer on
Maslow.
The first level is Survival. We
need food, shelter protection just to
survive. Fighting for food and shelter
every day, not knowing if you’ll eat
today, that is survival. This has to be
satisfied in all of us before we can move
on. Until then survival is our total
focus. Believe it or not, many of the mob
is probably functioning at this level,
only it’s not about food and
shelter.
The second level is Security.
This is where we have some reserves; we
have some money coming in, perhaps own a
home and are not worried about surviving
today. Our job
and some material possessions help
fulfill this area. Our mob
is also at this level or trying to hang
on to this level, only it’s not about
shelter for tomorrow.
The third level is Belonging.
There is security and safety in the tribe
and we have a feeling of being part of
the group or family. This
can induce reciprocity among the group
and individuals become part of something
larger. This generally means we protect
and help each other, yet that depends
upon the values and the motives of the
group! Our mob has a different set of
values at work.
The fourth level is Ego. This
can be inwardly focused on my own ego and
how great I am and what I have done. Or
it can be focused on what the group has
done and how I was part of the
group. Our mob
is definitely focused on ME, ME,
ME!
There are the first four of the
five levels. The fifth level is
Self-actualization and frankly the mob is
fully devoid of this! The Self-actualized
person would have given themselves to
protect the clerk, not step on or over
them. This
person has no need for the first four
levels and functions on a much high
level!
So how does Survival, Security,
Belonging and Ego come into driving this
mob behavior and
justification?
On the Survival level, we need
recognition or feeling valued almost more
than food! If I
cannot get it from other people or
internally from myself, I must find it
elsewhere. People at this level will take
any action that gives them a feeling of
power, even if for only a moment. Imagine
the starving mob going after the last
loaf of bread and the behaviors you would
see. Now replace the bread with a feeling
of power, even a false power. By the
way, I see this in business politics and
posturing all the time.
Security comes in to hold on to
the power. So many people feel powerless
and do not understand the power they
could have with a change in thinking. But
they go after putting others down so they
can feel more power full. This false
sense of security is justified in their
minds because it combats most of the
other areas in their lives where they
feel powerless!
Frustrated that they seem unable to
change their lives, they lose the feeling
of security and have to find it
somewhere, somehow. Poor
choices are often the result of this
need.
As to Belonging, likeminded
people tend to gather together even if
they do not know each other. They see the
world in similar ways and are willing to
take similar actions because it makes
them feel part of something and if it is
part of something, than it must be right
and ok! In this way I can justify just
about anything!
So now you have insecure people
looking to hold on to power, willing to
do what they feel will give them power
and a large group of them in one place
taking the same actions! By the way, this
is all externally driven by outside
expectations, not internally by thought
out values.
So now we throw on the ME, ME,
ME Ego in an arena where false perceived
power is the objective and what would you
expect!
A large group of people whose
behavior can be directed by the latest
marketing scheme.
A group of people that relinquish their values
for a feeling of false power.
A group of people that are driven by the group
action rather than rational thinking.
A group prime for programming to do what others
dictate if the reward is perceived
power.
The real let down is what it
says about our society today. When people
are so hungry for a feeling of worth in
the richest country in the world and are
so with drawn from each other. This is
the situation which was ripe for many of
the past dictators such as Hitler to take
control!
What to do? How about being
willing to ask that person next to you
how you could help them, even if it is
just to listen. Let’s
help satisfy that first need of Survival
by allowing others to feel
value.
Does this have anything to do
with Sales or Leadership? Put this
behavior against your customers or people
you manage, it could be eye
opening!
As to the upcoming Holiday
Season, give a gift that will matter,
reach out and touch someone else in a way
that positively affects their lives! That
will be a gift that gives for a life
time.
Till next week, to your
success!
Harlan Goerger
© Harlan Goerger
11-2008
Reprint in entirety
only.
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