Have you ever found yourself questioning why some people use such poor judgment?
Whether it’s letting their four year old play, unsupervised, by the road or both parents smoking in the car with their kids in tow. It’s mind boggling how some people seem to lack the common sense necessary to take actions that can prevent potentially devastating results.
… at least it used to be mind boggling to me, until I figured out why it happens.
I was doing some searching on Google about 4-5 years ago and I happened upon a site that was discussing “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Once I began to read the information on the site, and took the time to compare it to stages of my own life, I got goosebumps!
It was as though I finally found a missing piece to a puzzle that tied the rest of the puzzle together.
This one image helped me figure out something I had been pondering for years …
In 1995 I built a marketing organization that numbered 2,500 people and stretched across the United States. There were many times I wanted to pull my hair out because of the things some of these marketers would do.
Some of them whined all the time, and others would happily do whatever I told them to do. I just didn’t get why they wouldn’t follow the exact steps we were showing them since the results would be astonishing if they did.
I remember having a long discussion with one of my mentors and asked her, “Why the heck are they always complaining? I just don’t understand why they would do that when we’re showing them how to make money.”
She gave me a little smirk and said, “Cat’s gotta be some color!
Frankly I was quite annoyed with this cute little response because I was seriously trying to figure out why they were doing that. I took a deep breathe and fought the urge to snap back with a cute little response of my own. Instead I asked, “What do you mean by the cat’s gotta be some color?” She responded with the statement, “Just because you paint a black cat white, doesn’t make it a white cat.”
Now I was even more annoyed but decided to just drop it.
Now I finally knew what she meant!
Liars Lie. Complainers complain. Cheaters cheat.
…and expecting anything different is INSANE!
You may be asking yourself, “What the heck does that have to do with Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? Well I won’t give you a cutesy little response, I’ll just give you an example that will hopefully lead you to the answer on your own.
The next time you are watching a news story about a child from a depressed neighborhood wandering into the street while the parents were inside…
Fight the urge to ask, “Why the heck weren’t the parents paying attention?” or “Why would parents allow their little child outside without supervision?”
If you refer back to the “Hierarchy of Needs” you’ll see the basic physiological needs contain food, water, and homeostasis. It isn’t until you get to the second rung that we are concerned with safety needs.
Without getting all deep and philosophical…
Once you realize this is the way the world works, you can move on from getting all caught up in the “Why.” The answer is pretty simple and logical once you understand how things work.
The bottom line is if someone isn’t getting all their basic physiological needs met, it is impossible for them to begin focusing on meeting their safety needs.
You may be wondering, “What does this have to do with web marketing or with business, for that matter?”
Well I believe if you’ve spent anytime at all studying what the difference is between successful and unsuccessful companies, you’ll find there is a very similar “hierarchy of business needs.”
You’ll find successful companies became successful by moving their way up through the satisfaction of their business needs along the way. As the company matures, it continue to become more and more stable as needs are met, and they are allowed the luxury to focus on making their companies stronger.
We all know it is VERY EASY to get overwhelmed with the pitfalls we are presented with each and every day. Whether it is paying rent, health benefits, payroll, or equipment necessary for your company to grow. It is impossible for you to keep your company doors open, let alone grow your company if you are constantly focused on meeting even these basic needs.
So remember …
Liars lie.
Cheaters Cheat.
Complainers complain.
and most importantly…
Successful companies succeed.
Stop wasting your time, energy, and even your breath on asking “Why” when it comes to the position your company is in, and stay focused on continuously adding to the list of business needs that your company has mastered.
