In 1960, MIT management professor Douglas McGregor imported some of Maslow’s ideas to the business world. McGregor challenged the presumption that humans are fundamentally inert—that absent external rewards and punishments, we wouldn’t do much. People have other, higher drives, he said.

“I don’t believe so. Early humans certainly had to figure out various jobs-to-be-done for the first time, but by now, most if not all of our basic needs and wants have been identified. You’ve probably seen models like Maslow’s hierarchy that model these needs as a pyramid, starting with physiological needs like food and clothing, then safety, love

La pyramide des besoins, dite pyramide de Maslow, est une théorie de la motivation élaborée dans les années 194018. Cette théorie indique que les besoins de l’être humain sont d’abord physiologiques (faim, soif, sommeil, respiration, etc.) ; viennent ensuite les besoins de sécurité, puis d’appartenance et d’amour, puis d’estime, et enfin, en haut d