Key Management Development Models, 3rd Edition

6

Glasser’s choice theory

The big picture

William Glasser (1925–2013) was a student of Abraham Maslow, and later became an eminent and sometimes controversial psychiatrist. He developed his choice theory out of concern that Maslow’s hierarchy was flawed. His research suggests that there are only five drivers of all human behaviour and that they are not, as Maslow suggests, hierarchical. Once we know our own drivers, we can make informed life choices in order to feel happy and motivated.

The five drivers are:

• power and status
• love and belonging
• fun and enjoyment
• freedom
• survival.

Ten axioms underpin the theory, and among them are the following:

• The idea that the only person whose behaviour we can control is our own.
• All long-lasting psychological ...