Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

PREFACE TO THE UPDATED EDITION

Déjà vu. Joie de Vivre. Don’t worry, I’m not going to teach you French, but I will say that I’ve been feeling a whole lot of déjà vu at JdV lately. Who knew my company would experience two “once in a lifetime” downturns within eight years of each other?

The wisdom we developed after the dot-com meltdown is serving Joie de Vivre well during this recession. One of the lessons I learned then and discuss in Peak is that focusing on your stakeholders’ higher needs creates both deeper loyalty and a unique competitive differentiation, especially in a downturn. It’s this kind of long-term thinking that creates sustainable success in an organization. That’s why even in a recession, every morning I ask myself the question, ...