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.