Maslow on Management

INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL MURPHY

Most know him as the cofounder of The Esalen Institute or through his best selling books, Golf in the Kingdom, The Kingdom of Shivas, The Future of the Body, and The Life We Are Given, Michael Murphy has spent his life in much of the same way Maslow did: exploring the self and examining how people can develop their capabilities. Studying meditation before it was fashionable, examining the connection between mind-body health practices, much of Murphy’s work has become mainstream. Yet, our interview with this American icon were on issues very close to his heart. Maslow described Michael Murphy as “the son I never had . . . ”

These two men were brought together in what could mirror a scene from Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity. Maslow and his wife, Bertha, were returning from a conference in Southern California. Driving up the coast in Northern California, the Maslows were looking for a place to lodge for the evening. Outside of the small city of Big Sur, they noticed a place that offered rooms and decided to stop. Upon check in, Dr. Maslow was asked to sign the register. The front-desk clerk, after reading the signature said, “THE Abraham Maslow?” Excitedly, the clerk yelled for Michael Murphy’s partner, Richard Price, cofounder of The Esalen Institute.

In their search for overnight lodging, little did Abe and Bertha know that they had walked into a hotbed of writers, lecturers, philosophers, students, and therapists interested in humanistic psychology. ...