The Power Point That Made Me Cry (because I was happy)

by Karl on June 24, 2008

Your mileage may vary but some of the themes in this slideshow “happiness as your business model” resonate so deeply with me it literally brought tears to my eyes. In the deck Tara (author of HorsePigCow and founder of Citizen Agency) connects so succinctly Maslows hierarchy of needs and the concepts of autonomy and relatedness it just blew me away. Funny because i’ve been trying to connect the same things for the last five or six years with limited success, so you would imagine it would make me feel quite inept seeing how well Tara has done it here, but that’s not the case at all, i feel like it’s a huge confirmation and an opportunity for me to go back and see how I can build on it.

I wrote an article way back in 2003 where I tried to connect a concept called the “hierarchy of customer experience” to loyalty, which was heavily inspired by Maslow’s hierarchy and Hertzbergs two factor theory of motivation which included “Trust > Competence > Autonomy > Creativity/Relatedness”

Here’s another look at an earlier attempt:
The Hierarchy of Customer Experience

I’m quite convinced that a model like this is the secret behind the real success (and real failure) of web 2.0/social media type companies. Increasingly it will be the secret behind the real success (and real failure) of all companies and organizations.

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SlideShare Blog » Blog Archive » Can a Powerpoint presentation make you cry?
June 26, 2008 at 10:35 pm

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

Matt MacQueen June 25, 2008 at 7:06 am

this is really great, it’s definitely a new model that many (most?) businesses are freaked out by, but it’s surely a better way forward. It’s all a part of authenticity. Thanks for bringing it to light.

Tara 'missrogue' Hunt June 27, 2008 at 11:51 pm

This really is the HIGHEST compliment I’ve ever received. Your work is great, btw. We should talk!

Karl June 29, 2008 at 5:54 pm

Thanks so much Tara, I take that as a huge complement as well :-) I’ll email you.

Tony Eyles June 29, 2008 at 6:09 pm

Thanks Karl (and Tara). This model really takes it to another level. My paradigm has always been a simple CE hierarchy: trust/meet needs/recognise/reward/personalise but you have really openned the top of the pyramid for me – I feel shifted!

Kristian Luoma September 13, 2008 at 10:53 am

Wow. This is what I have been secretly trying to think is real, and inevitable, but the all-opinions-obeying product designer in me has been trying to accept the industry standards.

No point fighting against the future, happiness will rule.

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