Read Part 1.

Continuing with the summary of prevalent and long-standing business and human development models, the following are models that define "the individual" as compared to the group or organization. These models help individuals understand themselves. Their primary usefulness comes from the thinking that if I understand who I am and why I do what I do, and I become aware of who you are and why you do what you do, (and vice-versa), then we can work through processes that help us better communicate with and relate to each other.

Individual Models

Maslow´s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow identified an hierarchical scale representing factors that motivate people to act in certain ways. His scale indicates that an individual whose lower-level needs (aka: more basic needs) are unfulfilled worries little about higher-level motivations. Maslows´ five orders of needs, diagramed on a triangular scale with the lowest-level needs at the bottom, include:

-         Physiological (the most basic, lowest-level need; at the bottom of the scale) - Basic survival needs of food, warmth (clothing), and shelter.

-         Security - Protection from the threat of danger.

-         Social - Relationships with others. Love and friendship.

-         Self Respect - Sense of personal worth and autonomy.

-         Self-Actualization - Sense of achieving one´s full potential.

A sixth order of need is sometimes quoted -

-         Power - Influence over others.

For further study, reference: Motivation and Personality. Maslow. ISBN0060419873.

Herzberg´s Hygiene Theory of Motivation

Frederick Herzberg concluded in 1959 that there are two types of motivations for people at work:

-Hygiene factors - Include interpersonal relationships, physical working conditions, supervision, and compensation. These conditions, when not present, demotivate workers. The conditions affect workers´ levels of dissatisfaction but rarely create job satisfaction.

-Motivation factors - Include recognition, responsibility, achievement, and career advancement. These conditions, when present, motivate workers and create job satisfaction. When not present, they do not necessarily cause workers dissatisfaction. (Go figure!)

For further study, reference: The Motivation to Work. Herzberg. ISBN156000634X.

The Johari Window

Joe Luft and Harry Ingham offered a way of looking at how individuals express their personalities and how people see each other. They observed that there are elements of our personalities that we reveal to others and elements we keep to ourselves. This model is diagramed as a four-pane window with an aspect of whether a personal trait is known or unknown to others-or self-noted in each pane. The conclusion is that the more open you are to others, the more openly and honestly you communicate. Everyone more effectively supports each other with open communications.

The four ways of looking at ourselves and others are:

-The public area - Aspects of our selves that we share with others, whether viewed as strengths or weaknesses.

-The hidden area - Aspects of our selves that others observe, yet of which we are unaware. These affect how others act towards and react to us.

-The unknown area - Aspects of our selves that no one knows about, including ourselves. These may be buried in our subconscious and never exposed.

-The private area - Aspects of our selves about which we know, and keep hidden from others.

For further study, reference: Perspectives on the Self in Communication-The Cognition Continuum and the Johari Window. Beck. Article in the Society for Technical Communication. ISBN B00092YM1W.

Myers Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI)

Katherine Myers (in the early 20^th Century) and later, her daughter Isabel Myers, developed personality classifications based on ways in which we view the world around us, deal with it, and react to it. The results of completing a comprehensive survey instrument reveal an individual´s four-letter personality classification (type) and the strength of an individual´s preferences within each of the profile components (the letters).

MBTI identifications allow us to define our own personalities and what makes us tick. They also enable us to discover how to relate to others of different profile types and understand why they are and react they way they are and do.

The four pairs of preferences that result in 16 possible personality types are:

-         E/I preferences - reveal your interest in the world around you.

• E = Extravert, meaning you are interested in other people and things and get your energy from others.
• I = Introvert, meaning you draw strength from your inner world of concepts and ideas.

-         S/N preferences - reveal how you gather and absorb information.

• S = Sensing, where you take in facts about your surroundings using your senses.
• N = Intuitive, where you draw connections between the here-and-now and the possibilities to come.

-         T/F preferences - reveal how you evaluate and process the information you gather.

• T = Thinker, in which you prefer using logic to arrive at objective conclusions.
• F = Feeling, in which you prefer evaluating information by personal means to arrive at subjective conclusions.

-         J/P preferences - reveal your attitude towards the world.

• J = Judging, where you prefer an ordered life. You respond best to clear-cut decisions and solidly-drawn conclusions.
• P = Perceiving, where you take life as it comes. You hesitate to decide definitively and are open to new ideas.

The scale that reveals the strength of our preferences indicates how strongly we are the types as identified.

For further study, reference: What Type Am I? The Myers-Brigg Type Indication Made Easy. Baron. ISBN 014026941X; MBTI Manual (A guide to the development and use of the Myers Briggs type indicator). Myers, McCaulley, Quenk, Hammer. ISBN 0891061304.

Conclusion

With most models, there are no absolutes. People, being people, fall within fuzzy boundaries when attempts are made to define and categorize. Organizational, team, and individual models seek to explain human interaction in ways that encourage developing systems and processes that encourage individual achievement while supporting organizational success.

© Sylvia Henderson. All rights reserved.

BONUS: For a challenging word search puzzle of Organization Development terminology from an OD glossary, download the file "word search puzzle - OD Terminology01 (handout).pdf" from www.springboardtraining.com/links.htmlLeadership & Organization Development. If you enjoy the puzzle, let me know by sending a note to Sylvia@springboardtraining.com with the subject line "Word Search - OD Terms01".