Did you know that Maslow never created a pyramid?

Why this matters: the false pyramid suggests we should postpone purpose until someone is “secure enough.” But what if purpose if part of what helps them solve those problems in the first place?

Part 1: The mistake

Researchers who traced its history found no pyramid in Maslow’s published work, diaries, letters, or personal papers.

The familiar image emerged later through management education. They traced the version we recognize today to a 1960 article by a consulting psychologist named Charles McDermid.

By turning human development into a series of levels, the pyramid also encouraged a misleading idea:

First, satisfy your basic needs.

Then, once those are handled, you can focus on growth, meaning, and purpose.

Part 2: A better metaphor

Scott Barry Kaufman offers a better metaphor: a sailboat.

The hull represents the needs that keep us afloat:

Safety

Connection

Self-esteem

The sail represents the needs that help us move:

Exploration

Love

Purpose

You don’t complete the hull and then unlock the sail. You need both.

This has important implications for career advisors.

1. Stop treating student needs as a sequence.

A student does not need to eliminate every financial, emotional, or academic concern before exploring what matters to them.

The student who says, “I just need a job,” may need stability. They may also need hope, direction, curiosity, and a reason to keep going.

Using a fabricated pyramid of needs reduces life to a video game like experience. Human experience is not that linear or simple. (Take Victor Frankl’s experience and writing for example). 

2. Don’t confuse security with the destination.

A reliable income and stable career path can matter tremendously.

But we can also ask: “What do you want that stability to make possible?”

The hull keeps the student afloat. It is not the whole journey.

3. Pay attention to both parts of the boat.

Some students have a powerful sail but a damaged hull. They are excited about possibilities but lack confidence, support, or stability.

Others have a strong hull but no wind in their sail. They are safe, successful, and doing everything expected of them—but they have no idea where they want to go.

Wisdom comes in recognizing what students need the most, at this time (hint: this involves us asking questions!) 

Part 3: A more useful question

Career advisors are not helping students climb a fixed pyramid.

We are helping them strengthen their hull, open the sail, and learn to navigate.

And perhaps the most useful question we can ask is:

Which part of your boat needs attention right now?

Sources:

-Scott Barry Kaufman, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization

-Andy Ogden — credited by Kaufman in Transcend for his contribution to the sailboat metaphor and illustrations.

-Todd Bridgman, Stephen Cummings, and John Ballard, “Who Built Maslow’s Pyramid?” 

-Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning.