Maslow's Hierarchy
Physical → safety → love → esteem → self-actualization
- Best for
- diagnosing unmet needs
- Time
- 30–60 min
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Example
Diagnosing why a high-performing engineer is suddenly disengaged
Where the gap is
- Physiological — fine (sleep, food, comp)
- Safety — wobbly: re-org rumors are eating attention
- Belonging — weakened: best teammate left last month
- Esteem — dropped: last project shipped without credit
- Self-actualization — blocked: no challenging problems on the plate
- Manager fix: clarify role, surface stretch project, name the contribution
Related frameworks
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