Chip Conley: Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile

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Chip Conley, author of Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, is one of my recent heroes. I found his book at our local library, and paid a substantial late fee to said library because I couldn’t stop taking notes long enough to return the book. Should have just bought the book.

Conley’s TED talk is one of the most promising I’ve seen to date. On par with Jill Bolte Taylor’s talk about her stroke and how the human brain works. Conley’s book gives us a new way of looking at what makes business worthwhile. Chip’s talk extends that possibility to what makes life worthwhile.

As a mom entrepreneur, it got me thinking about the ways Maslow’s heirarchy of needs plays a big role in my life and work. Chip talks about a happiness quotient – “gross national happiness” – that when applied to our small businesses can be even more transformational in our work, as well as our lives.

Take my kids for example (no pun intended). When they are sick, scared or feeling instability in their lives, they cling to me. Even my 13 year old generally addresses his letters from camp to me, not my husband. He knows there’s a stable, supportive voice on the other end of the line. This is the base need of our children. As Chip points out, it’s the base need of all of us: to feel stable, and secure.

In a business relationship, we look for financial security of products that perform consistently, and business partners we can count on to say what they mean and mean what they say. Until we can establish a relationship of trust and stability, a business will rarely move forward.

When my kids start to assert their independence, they need affirmation, encouragement, and recognition for a job well done. My 4 year old son craves it as much as my teenager – albeit in different ways. Conley suggests that recognition needs to be specific and personalized. recognition means different things to different people. When my 4 year old publicly applauds me for “going pee pee in the potty”, he’s reflecting his own desire for recognition. Likewise, if I publicly applauded my teenage son for the same accomplishment, he’d probably hang a picture of my face on a dart board for target practice. This is the middle layer of Conley’s pyramid – recognition as a means to develop self-actualization.

In business, our clients as well as our team mates need to know that we appreciate them – and they want us to speak their language of recognition.

When the recognition needs are met, and children develop a sense of self worth or self-actualization, they set off on independent adventures. They are confident, and excited about the possibilities their life can hold. As a mom, this is where I’ve stumbled with my teenager. It’s part of the reason he’s in this wilderness camp in the first place. I didn’t have the tools, the knowledge or the understanding of how to help him transition from kid-hood into adolescence. I was too busy worrying about myself, to be frank. The results of my shortcomings nearly cost me the life of my son. I’m not berating myself here. I’m acknowledging that even a smart person can overlook some very important cues – in life and in business. At this camp, my son is completely immersed in projects, activities, and an environment to help him re-build that confidence, give him the recognition he needs (in his own language) and bring him to a place of self-actualization. This is the top of Conley’s pyramid, and it’s a difficult summit to scale. That’s why the top of a pyramid is so much smaller than the base. Not everyone can ascend to the peak.

In business, we owe it to ourselves, our clients, and our team to be mindful of the experiences we’re creating or providing.  Our clients WANT to have mountaintop experiences with our company. We have to be willing to do what it takes to make it happen: providing the right tools, the right environment, and the right guides along the way. It’s not just about making it easy for clients to work with you, but making the experience of working with you positively remarkable.

As mom entrepreneurs, we have a unique skill set and experiences from which we can draw to create that environment in our lives and in our work. First, we must choose to make it happen. Then we must take action.