NETWORKING

The time to be connected is now. It's always now so it's always time!

Modern research suggests that Maslow's theory of self actualization is neither hierarchical nor the peak of self Fulfillment. Life is more complex and interactive than a ladder or a mountain. Connections are not just another step to higher needs. Connections are the center of our needs. We have always relied on our interactive connections with other people to hunt, gather food, build shelter—to survive and to thrive.

Cooperation has been, is, and always will be the hub of human evolution. Individual competence, for example, contributes to collective survival. And our reliance on each other grows as societies became more complex, interconnected, and specialized. We survive and thrive by synchronizing our lives with the lives of other people.

Unlike Maslow's one hierarchical path to Actualization, the diagram above shows that there are many paths to our personal and professional goals and they all require that we synchronize our efforts to reach them with human connections. Some researchers call this Maslow Rewired. I've added Self Realization because human connections can take us beyond self-fulfillment to selfless character.