Just as the simplicity and power of The One Minute Manager was based on a solid theoretical foundation of MBO (Management by Objectives), so too is the power and simplicity of Lost and Found built on a solid theoretical foundation. This foundation is the needs approach to human behavior, arguably one of the most well researched theories in management literature.
Theorists and proponents of this approach posit that human behavior is motivated by fulfilling needs, dichotomized in two distinct sets; lower level and higher level. The lower level needs are usually labeled existence and subsistence and are fulfilled by paychecks, fringe benefits, and safe working conditions. Moreover, these needs are typically fulfilled by the nature of the employment contract, not by leadership qualities of management. Fulfilling these needs is necessary but not sufficient to motivate your employees.
In other words providing a paycheck, health insurance, and environmentally safe working conditions may feed the body, but not the soul. You must fulfill these needs to simply attract an applicant to work for you. However fulfilling these needs will not induce that person to put forth the extra effort reflected by putting his heart and soul into his work.
In order to feed the soul, higher level needs must be fulfilled, needs fulfilled not by the nature of the employment contract, but by the leadership qualities of management. Such needs as Affiliation, Self-Esteem and Self- Actualization (Maslow), Relatedness and Growth (Alderfer), Achievement and Power (McClelland), and Recognition, Accomplishment and Personal Growth (Herzberg) define the higher order needs and establish the sufficiency criterion discussed earlier.
The story of Lost and Found is a story of how man found the true meaning of leadership by understanding the power of fulfilling higher order needs as reflected in three goals: Know Grow, Own. The KGO trilogy thus reflects a synthesis of the essential needs in the higher order set of human needs. By posing the single, most pivotal question for each element of the trilogy, you are directed towards actions which facilitate the fulfillment of those crucial needs. You are now feeding more than the body, you are feeding the soul.
Know: Do I have a clear view of the future I am striving to create, and does my team share that same view?
Grow: Are my team members more valuable to each other, to the company, and to themselves today than they were a year ago?Own: Do the people on my team perform like hired hands or as if they're partners in business with me?
Thus the essence of leadership is to assure that the answer to each of these questions is an unequivocal yes, thereby creating a working environment that fulfills individual needs concurrent with strategic organizational goals. In the words of Larry Parks:
If the people know where and value where we're going, have the skills and motivations to get there, and believe in their hearts that we're all partners in it together, then we can accomplish great things. And it's my job to establish those conditions. How I do my job is the sum of Know, Grow, and Own.
How you do your job is the sum of KNOW, GROW, and OWN.
References
Alderfer, C., Existence, Relatedness, Growth: Human Needs in Organizational Settings Glencoe, Ill, Free Press, 1972
Dessler, G., How To Earn Your Employees' Commitment, Academy of Management Executive, May 1999, 58-67
Herzberg, F., One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb, 19680 53-62.
Maslow, A., A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review, July 1943, 370-396
McClelland, D., The Achieving Society, New York, Van Nostrand, 1961
