In the wake of the technology bust and 9/11, Chip Conley found himself fighting for the survival of his San Francisco Bay Area-based company, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which had grown to 20 hotels. Looking for inspiration, he revisited the works of famed psychologist Abraham Maslow to see if he could apply Maslow’s well-known theories of human motivation and save his company in the process. Particularly compelling about Maslow, says Chip, was his positive perspective – he studied healthy as opposed to sick people, focused on their future rather than the past, and recognized that all humans have the desire to achieve their potential. So, Chip began implementing some of Maslow’s principles. (“Why couldn’t companies, which are really just collections of people, aspire to peak performance also?”) What started as ceo self-help became a management theory that has made Joie de Vivre the world’s second largest boutique hotel company and led to a valuable theory-in-action book for businesses of all kinds, “Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow.”

At the heart of Maslow’s theory is his Hierarchy of Needs, often illustrated as a pyramid. Lower levels are associated with survival needs (sustenance, safety, etc.), middle levels with esteem and intimacy, and the peak level with transformation. According to Maslow, survival needs must be satisfied first but when they are, the human drive for personal growth brings higher needs into focus. It is on this upward dynamic towards aspirational needs that Chip encourages businesses to focus. The principle of the book is that peak experiences for employees, customers, and investors – when their highest needs are met – create peak company performance.

“If we can create a sense of meaning in the work life of our people, a third of whom clean toilets for a living, I bet you can do it for your employees too.” – Chip Conley, Founder/CEO, Joie de Vivre Hospitality

To map the way, Chip created his own pyramids for these three constituents, which illustrate what he calls the relational “mojo” that makes companies from Starbucks to Google successful. (Included are case studies of these and other respected employers such as Netflix, Harley-Davidson, and Apple.) “You have to get the basics right, but the reality is that most companies spend too much time focused on the base of the three pyramids – the basics of running the business – thinking that moderately motivated employees, barely satisfied customers, and transactionally driven investors will make them an industry leader,” he says. He cautions against this tendency, especially when faced with an economic recession, saying it “can lead to a downward spiral of declining employee morale, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.” Chapters end with what Chip calls “read it in the morning, use it in the afternoon” tools. These “Peak Prescriptions” are like a workbook to help leaders in any organization build workplace relationships focused on the peak of the pyramids – employees’ sense of meaning in and at work, customers’ unrecognized needs, investors’ pride of ownership – which become surprisingly tangible. At the end of chapters is also a list of related books, articles, and studies – over 100 in all.