Everest According to Maslow

Dreams and aspirations are one thing, propensity is another. If one has dreams and aspirations and also the propensity, desire is often sufficient provided the person exercises initiative and follow through. The person may achieve their dreams equal to their propensity. However, human nature dictates the need for struggle.

For most people dreams and aspirations are not automatically accompanied by propensity, and so we must make up for the lack by sheer determination. For these people, dreams and aspirations are always tempered by propensity but then they are carefully molded by and brought to fruition by sheer determination. That is why the Para-Olympics exist and why there are people who are able to overcome what otherwise seems like an insurmountable obstacle.

However determination alone will not suffice. Determination must be converted to propensity in order to become useful. The world is full of individuals with dreams and aspirations, blind to their lack of propensity but possessing abundant determination, who do not understand this basic concept (Determination:Propensity Exchange, [DPEx]). Having failed to transform their determination into skill, they keep us entertained with hours of blazing failure on reality shows like American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance.

Proof positive that I am correct is the example of the barefooted Tibetan Sherpa who barefoot and carrying an entire campsite and provisions for 2 on his lowly shoulders manages to scale the same heights as his hobnail booted Mountaineering counterpart who is carrying nothing more than a ice pike and an oxygen mask. What the Mountaineer has is a goal and determination: What the Sherpa has is a goal and his propensity (a genetic predisposition for schlepping huge loads, barefoot, in snow at high altitude without freezing). There is no way that the Mountaineer lacking the Sherpa’s propensity for Alpine survival would make it alone to the top of Everest.

Now before I offend a lot of folks, I just want to make my meaning clear. I am not in any way implying that Sir Edmond Hillary, Reinhold Messner, and others like them were pansy-asses, far from it! Those were men of exploration with dreams both bold and beautiful who possessed a determination unmatched by the Average Joe. But what they lacked in propensity, they had to make up for in sheer determination. Hilary would never have made it without Tensing, and while Messner may have reached the pinnacle on his own without an oxygen tank, most of that climb was facilitated by the Sherpa who stayed behind on the last leg of the trip. I tip my hat to those bold explorers and their Sherpa’s who faced hardship to achieve a common goal.

But the question to ask: Is it really a common goal? Let’s examine the individual goals of the Mountaineer and the Sherpa. We can be pretty confident in assuming that the Mountaineer’s goal is to reach the summit, but what is the Sherpa’s goal? What were his dreams and aspirations? I am not quite convinced that the average Sherpa views the mountain the same way that the average non-Sherpa does. If that were true then the Sherpa living in the shadow of Everest could “conquer” it with a frequency that would quickly render the feat meaningless. But if Maslow is correct (and I think he is), it is more probable that the average Sherpa, concerned with feeding his family, is more impressed by the size of the explorer’s pocketbook than he is about the prospect of reaching the Everest’s summit.

In a nutshell: The Mountaineer with an abundance of determination and a need to conquer the mountain will exchange his determination, in the form of cash, for the propensity of the Sherpa to render service. The Explorer reaches the summit and the Sherpa feeds his family: One Act, Two Goals.

Understanding of both conceptual constructs, Maslow’s Heirarchy and Determination to Propensity Exchange (DPEx), will allow individuals and business units achieve a level of success that will surpass both those who attempt to achieve their dreams and meet their goals through either propensity or determination alone.