One of Maslow’s most surprising perceptions of self-actualizing individuals was their openness to new experiences to discover new things, to learn new ideas. Whatever they seemed to believe, they were unafraid to venture beyond the security of their own experience or rationalizations. Unlike most people, who tend to deny or repress views and observations that do not conform to their sensibilities, actualized people tend to face these opinions and contradictions head on.
As a result, they benefit from a more accurate perception of reality. They are secure enough in their ability and competence to make an endeavor, to reach out. They are unafraid to wander and explore.
Perhaps their quest to discover the unknown overpowers their drive for security. Alternatively, perhaps some innate sense of safety allows them to explore where others typically falter. Whatever the case, they press on.
Perhaps this sense of safety combined with a quest for the unknown also explains actualized individual’s general spontaneity. Where many people feel inhibited or constrained in situations, or in their feelings and actions, actualized people never wear a mask or play roles.
Maslow makes another connection here. Mozart was incredibly creative in music but he was undeveloped and constrained in many other situations. Actualized people are generally playful and creative in all things. They are ready to defy convention at any time. Maslow understood their creativity as coming from their innate sense of stability.
Perhaps it is also from a sense of safety that actualized individuals do not immediately identify with any one culture or point of view. They seek the reality of the situation, and therefore exhibit an ability to transcend apparent dichotomies that most people cannot. They solve situations through synthesis rather than alternative.
The lessons here for the organization are many. Too often, we view fear as a motivating factor. This view produces conformity, not safety or involvement and growth. A teen cannot grow if she is always afraid. She does not engage. She does not reach out. Neither do teams who are afraid of losing their jobs, or bad evaluations, or career- ending project failures.
