7-10 mins

In November 2024, I had the privilege of connecting with like-minded professionals at an ‘unconference’ in Amsterdam. Unlike a traditional conference with scheduled speakers and predetermined topics, this event allowed attendees to pitch their own topics on the day, with the best ideas selected for further discussion.

One of the chosen topics was presented by someone who shared top insights and tools gathered from working with over 200 product leaders. Intrigued, I decided to join this particular session, and boy, was I happy with this choice!

The speaker, Martijn Versteeg, began by explaining that as human beings, we always try to avoid pain and seek pleasure instead. As Nir Eyal writes in his book “Hooked”, avoiding pain is a key motivator in all species. When we feel discomfort, we seek to escape the uncomfortable sensation.

What followed was an overview of six basic human needs that I had probably encountered in some way before (possibly when I studied Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), but this was certainly an “aha!” moment for me. By understanding these needs, we can better understand ourselves and human behavior in general.

The needs he explained are (in no particular order):

1. Certainty: Assurance that you can avoid pain and gain pleasure.
2. Uncertainty/Variety: The need for the unknown, change, and new stimuli.
3. Significance: Feeling unique, important, special, or needed.
4. Connection/Love: A strong feeling of closeness or union with someone or something.
5. Growth: An expansion of capacity, capability, or understanding.
6. Contribution: A sense of service and focus on helping, giving to, and supporting others.

As I was preparing the content for this (relatively short) blog post, I discovered that the original author of this model is actually Tony Robbins, a well-known author, coach, and speaker.

Martijn was adamant about applying the knowledge we had gained and, towards the end of his session, challenged all of us to identify at least one actionable next step. He said something that resonated with me: “If knowledge alone was the answer, we’d all be millionaires with six-packs.” Inspired by this, I vowed to review the basic needs at my own leisure and rate myself accordingly to determine how I was doing.

Latching onto the introductory statement about pain vs. pleasure, I used a scale where the number 10 corresponds to pleasure and the number 0 corresponds to pain (representing discomfort and something that I want to escape).

I was particularly interested in the outcome of this exercise because, at the time, I wasn’t feeling very fulfilled at work and had some days where I didn’t look forward to my workday. To be honest, I couldn’t really explain my behavior at the time, but this exercise provided some insightful revelations that ultimately led me out of that less desirable situation. For every basic human need, I simply asked myself the following question: “Jacques, is this need of yours currently met?“

After some deep reflection, I discovered that the following two needs of mine were not met:

• Uncertainty/Variety: The need for the unknown, change, and new stimuli.
• Growth: An expansion of capacity, capability, or understanding.

I knew that something had to change because “Growth” happened to be one of my core needs that I feel very strongly about. A core need has the power to be a driving force behind certain behaviors.

At the time of doing this assessment, I was in a comfortable position at work and did not have much to look forward to when I thought of the next year. I needed a change of scenery and to revisit my personal development plan for the upcoming 12-24 months.

With the year-end fast approaching, I realized that now would be a good time to use the insights from this exercise to facilitate upcoming discussions with management. I presented my findings and concluded my story with an open-ended question to my boss: “Based on the insights that I have presented to you, is there anything we can do to improve my current situation at work?“

I somehow gathered enough courage to engage with management in these discussions. Looking back, it was actually easier than expected because I had data to back up my story. I also shared my ambitions for the coming 12-24 months and remember leaving work that day with the support I was hoping for.

Reflecting back, I realize today that I initially completed this assessment purely from a professional (work) perspective when I could have used the same model to assess my personal situation at home (or even both!). This would have provided a more holistic view of how I was doing at that particular period in my life. For instance, beyond work (which I truly believe is simply a means to an end), I also became a father in the past 12 months and settled into my new role at home. This certainly introduced a great deal of uncertainty/variety and a lot of growth!

Maybe you’re far from becoming a parent, but there might be something else in your life that compensates for a lack of certain elements at work. For example, you might take on the challenge of renovating your entire kitchen by yourself. This will undoubtedly lead to a significant amount of uncertainty/variety and plenty of growth.

Therefore, I encourage all of you to leverage this model, but consider your life as a whole and not just your work situation. If you assess your life holistically and realize that all of your basic needs are being met in one way or another, then I’d say you are already in a far better position—and likely happier—than most others. As Tony Robbins puts it: “People’s needs can be met in a variety of ways; we seek fulfillment through our relationships, careers, personal interests, and more.”

I hope this post gave you some valuable insights! If you found it helpful or have any thoughts to share, please leave a comment below and let me know. Your feedback helps me create better content for you. Don’t forget to hit that like button if you enjoyed reading! 🚀