THE HIERARCHY OF HUMAN CAPABILITY

WATCH: Gary Hamel introduces the SAP Unlimited Human Potential Challenge

You’ve probably heard about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—basic physiological needs at the bottom, self-actualization at the top. In this video introducing the SAP Unlimited Human Potential M-Prize, hear MIX co-founder Gary Hamel’s take on a different hierarchy: the hierarchy of human capability at work.

Obedience, diligence, competence are increasingly commodities in the global economy. If we want to build organizations that will thrive in the Innovation Economy, we need individuals to show up with enormous initiative, imagination, and passion. These higher-order attributes are gifts people either choose to bring to work every day—or don’t. We know from a wealth of data that, mostly, they don’t. This has profound implications for the work of management and leadership and how we organize.

For leaders, the old question was: How do I encourage the people who work for me to serve the organization’s goals? The new question represents a 180-degree flip: How do I create a work environment, a sense of purpose, a sense of community so powerful that people will be willing to bring those gifts to work every day?

Make no mistake, we are already living in the Gift Economy. And this is the focus of the SAP Unlimited Human Potential Challenge: how do we develop organizations that are capable of discovering, nurturing, aggregating, and appropriately rewarding individual contribution—wherever it resides?

We are seeking the most progressive practices and innovative ideas that demonstrate how emerging digital technologies and the principles that undergird them (including transparency, collaboration, meritocracy, openness, community, and self determination) can produce radically new approaches to:

         *Unleashing human capacity—designing environments and systems for work that inspire individuals to contribute their full imagination, initiative, and passion every day, and

         *Aggregating human capability—leveraging new social, mobile, and digital technologies to activate, enlist, and organize talent across boundaries.

Share your real-world case study or bold idea here. Make a case for how your management hack or business model innovation creates a real impact. By participating in the SAP Unlimited Human Potential Challenge, you can help shape the future of business. The ultimate prize? A better run world. #sapmprize