Was Maslow wrong?
Humans are hardwired to be social – so much so, that maybe Maslow got his famous hierarchy of human needs wrong.
The social psychologist Matthew Lieberman (Social: Why our brains are wired to connect, 2013) suggests that because humans are born helpless and totally dependent on others for their survival, the need for care and connection with other human beings is more basic than even physical needs. Without social connection and care from others over many years, young humans would not survive. As a result, humans are hardwired to need social connection and caring from the very beginning of life and he suggests this need has shaped the human brain and led to our outstanding success as a species and our ability to create large and complex social groups and organisations.
The social psychologist Matthew Lieberman (Social: Why our brains are wired to connect, 2013) suggests that because humans are born helpless and totally dependent on others for their survival, the need for care and connection with other human beings is more basic than even physical needs. Without social connection and care from others over many years, young humans would not survive. As a result, humans are hardwired to need social connection and caring from the very beginning of life and he suggests this need has shaped the human brain and led to our outstanding success as a species and our ability to create large and complex social groups and organisations.
Maslow vs Lieberman - hierarchy of human needs
Somewhere along the way however, the importance of “social” has been suppressed in our lives - in how we run our societies and our organisations, in how we think about ourselves, and in our understanding of what we need to perform our best.
We have constructed a view of ourselves as rational independent beings, driven by physical and monetary reward, and have constructed our organisations and governments to reflect this. The culture this has created and the management practices around these beliefs mean we have increasingly overlooked the importance of social connections in our workplaces and communities. Social has become undervalued – with the exception of the ubiquitous rise of social media.
What is the value of social connections?
Maybe if we could ascribe a dollar value to social connection and to the impact of our relationships with others on our performance and happiness, we may gain some insights into why the Gallop research on staff engagement repeatedly shows we struggle to increase engagement above an average of 30% globally and waste huge amounts of human potential and productivity. Gallup estimated in 2013 that this was costing US businesses alone $360 billion annually in lost productivity. (Lieberman, 2013, 268)
Lieberman cites a range of studies which attempted to calculate the dollar value to people of various types of social interaction. The results indicate the rewards people experience from social interactions (that have no, or very little, economic value in our society), consistently rank higher than the salary an average person earns in a whole year. The table below summarises some of these findings.
Somewhere along the way however, the importance of “social” has been suppressed in our lives - in how we run our societies and our organisations, in how we think about ourselves, and in our understanding of what we need to perform our best.
We have constructed a view of ourselves as rational independent beings, driven by physical and monetary reward, and have constructed our organisations and governments to reflect this. The culture this has created and the management practices around these beliefs mean we have increasingly overlooked the importance of social connections in our workplaces and communities. Social has become undervalued – with the exception of the ubiquitous rise of social media.
What is the value of social connections?
Maybe if we could ascribe a dollar value to social connection and to the impact of our relationships with others on our performance and happiness, we may gain some insights into why the Gallop research on staff engagement repeatedly shows we struggle to increase engagement above an average of 30% globally and waste huge amounts of human potential and productivity. Gallup estimated in 2013 that this was costing US businesses alone $360 billion annually in lost productivity. (Lieberman, 2013, 268)
Lieberman cites a range of studies which attempted to calculate the dollar value to people of various types of social interaction. The results indicate the rewards people experience from social interactions (that have no, or very little, economic value in our society), consistently rank higher than the salary an average person earns in a whole year. The table below summarises some of these findings.
Research on people’s assessment of value (Lieberman p247)
So how can we translate these findings into a work situation? As a thought starter, I have taken the activities above and adapted them to the work situation in the table below. Take a few seconds to estimate what you think the work activities in the table below could be worth to people based on the research evidence above.
Social connection is about giving and receiving. And many researchers have found that the chance to help others motivates people to work harder, creates happiness, and gives meaning to people’s lives. So how much are we recognising this human need in the design of our organisations and of our management practices? I suggest not much.
Imagine if ….
For a moment imagine what this recognition of people’s social needs would mean for how organisations and governments should be managed differently. Imagine what this means for:
So what does this suggest you could do in your workplace to make a difference and support better performance?
Susan Kehoe
Consultant | Coach | Change Leader
Work with Susan
Susan works as an executive & consultant on people & culture, strategy & implementation, transformation & change, and human resources. She brings practical experience and thought leadership gained from many years of leading successful performance improvement and change in some of Australia’s leading businesses and government.
Imagine if ….
For a moment imagine what this recognition of people’s social needs would mean for how organisations and governments should be managed differently. Imagine what this means for:
- The workplace culture and behaviour you should be promoting
- The types of leaders and leader behaviour that you should be rewarding
- The Human Resource management philosophies and practices you should be designing
- Your reward and recognition practices
- Your business productivity and profit results
- How to access the untapped potential in your people, and the impact on social happiness and well-being.
So what does this suggest you could do in your workplace to make a difference and support better performance?
Susan Kehoe
Consultant | Coach | Change Leader
Work with Susan
Susan works as an executive & consultant on people & culture, strategy & implementation, transformation & change, and human resources. She brings practical experience and thought leadership gained from many years of leading successful performance improvement and change in some of Australia’s leading businesses and government.