This book had an interesting journey. It started off in the hands of David LaPLante, who then discussed the power behind the Maslow pyramid with the executives at One to One. Snippets of insight were passed along in our employee meetings, and the Conley’s Maslow Express traveled into our local business library, which I pulled out to read.

I was also able to learn a bit more around Maslow prior to reading the book as well, which helped me understand the theory of motivation a little bit better. Well… on with the book:

“Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?”

Chip Conley is the visionary behind the magazine-themed Joie de Vivre boutique hotels in San Francisco. But as soon as the tech-bubble burst, the N. California Hotel Market began to fall on hardship. Then, 9/11 hit, and it further decimated the tourism industry. And soon vacant hotels began to turn into ghost hotels.

Northern California hotels were the hardest hit in the nation.  But Conley, despite the hardships, turned the negative into a positive by implementing Maslow’s ideals within his business. By attending to people’s right needs, you can empower their potential. And this spills into your business. This philosophy goes against the conventional wisdom where money is the primary motivator, customers stay loyal when they’re satisfied, and investors are only focused on the return. No. There’s much more that motivates each one of us.

Conley felt there was a lot more to working than.. well working:

“Those with jobs tend to focus more on the financial rewards of working than on any pleasure or fulfillment… finding much of their true enjoyment outside their nine-to-five existences.  Those with careers focus on primarily on growing their talent and advancement… they gain quite a bit of satisfaction in their work, often associated with the esteem (recognition)… The lucky few who pursue a calling find their work fulfilling in its own right, without regard for money or advancement. …. ‘One must respond to one’s fate or one’s destiny or pay a heavy price.”

Below are the ways he defined the different business relationships within these pyramids:

Employee Pyramid
Base – Money (Survival) Creates motivation
Body – Recognition (Success) Creates loyalty
Top – Meaning (Transformation)  Creates inspiration

Customer Pyramid
Base – Meets Expectations (Survival) Creates Satisfaction
Body – Meets Desires (Success) Creates Commitment
Top – Meets Unrecognized Needs (Transformation) Creates Evangelism

Investor Pyramid
Base – Transactional Alignment (Survival) Creates Trust
Body – Relational Alignment (Success) Creates Confidence
Top – Legacy (Transformation) Creates Pride of Ownership

Top Quotes

  • “It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.”
  • “In China, the oldest symbol for business means life’s meaning or life’s work… Great companies have great causes.”
  • “Great leaders know how to tap into potential and actualize into it into reality”
  • “The solution for a company that wants to ascend up the healthy pyramid is not just to diminish the negative or to get too preoccupied with basic needs, but instead focus on aspirational needs.”
  • “Businesspeople probably have the greatest potential to transform the world for the better… Good business can create karma”
  • “Take most of the (business leaders) away from the transactional day-to-day details of their work life… you’ll often find a budding philosopher underneath that suit.”
  • “Successful leaders recognize that they can’t constantly make withdrawals from their business relationships. You have to create balance by making deposits.”
  • “Companies that cultivate an environment that allows for peak individual performance are rewarded with peak company performance.”
  • “The day came when the risk it took to remain closed in a bud became more painful than the risk it took to blossom”
  • “Relational health helps create financial success.”
  • “That feelings are contagious – positive even more so than negative”
  • “Companies like Apple and Harley Davidson become highly successful cult brand by creating self-actualizing experiences for their customers.”
  • “Employees can’t focus on their higher needs when they have an empty stomach.”
  • “Human beings will always complain… once we started hearing ‘higher level complaints’, we had moved our employees beyond the base of the pyramid.”
  • “Employees join companies, but they leave managers”
  • “Someone who sets clear and consistent expectations, cares for them, values their unique qualities, and encourages and supports their growth and development.” (Quality manager)
  • “Most companies are more product-focused, rather than customer-focused”
  • “Act small… People are more likely to trust you when they can relate to you. And being humble usually means you’re a empathetic listener.”
  • “We’ve moved from a one-size-fits all culture… to a ‘one-size-fits-one’ customer. We all want to feel special.”
  • “Technology enables great service; it does not create it.”
  • “Today it’s the retailers job to not only deliver what the customers want, but also what they’d never think to ask for.”
  • “A person’s life is quite literally the sum of his or her experiences.”
  • “Success is all about getting. Significance is about giving back.”
  • “Your calling in life is to be an artist posing as a businessman… you are rich, but just in a different way than most of America defines the word.”
  • “I often feel like the work I’m doing is coming from some greater source than just me. It’s like I’m channeling this energy or talent, and I’m amazed by it’s power.”
  • “Great leaders don’t count their successes by the number of cards in their garage… Great leaders know their success is defined by their personal impact they’ve had on their doors.”

Top points

  • The more you increase compensation does not coincide with the more likely someone will stay with your company. After the base need is fulfilled, employees look towards the higher needs to be motivated, such as being recognized for their work.
  • The relationship with your direct manager creates more loyalty than money can buy.
  • Zappos will pay you $2k to $3k after you go through training to leave the company. They don’t want you if you can’t see further than the upfront money. Interesting idea. They want people who see value in the work they do.
  • Ever have a theme song for yourself? What would it be?
  • When praising someone, be direct and detailed. People love to be recognized.
  • Customers, personalization matters. Remember their favorite rooms; Or any personal requests, etc. They like this. The more personal = the more happy. Netflix tries this with recommendations.
  • To reach the top level of the customer pyramid, you must help them reach the pyramid. You must have their best interest at the heart of your sale or you must provide something or service that’s greater than themselves.
  • You must help your colleagues and your customers reach the top of the pyramid. It’s business karma. And it will get you there as well.
  • As you move up in business, you should also grow emotional intelligence.
  • Before you even begin to think about moving up the pyramid, you must tend to the base needs first.
  • You can use the power of the pyramid in every day life. e.g. New Year’s resolutions. What type of need is your resolution fulfilling?
    “Take a look at whether this activity is a survival need (help provide basic sustenance or comfort), a success need (something that will help enhance the performance or experience), or a transformation need (something less predictable, more intangible and more satisfying and memorable)”