Wiser Next Week for Business is a follow up to the original Wiser Next Week. Similar to its predecessor, it takes the knowledge of many and condenses it into one categorized book. This time, rather than focusing on the reader’s personal life, the matters of work and career are discussed in greater detail.
Wiser Next Week for Business will be released chapter by chapter.
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” -Steve Jobs
Why it Matters: Understanding what drives us, the fundamentals of taking action to achieve the goals and results we want are only the foundation. Applying it into the real world requires another level of understanding of the basics. It means taking broad knowledge and narrowing it down into a very technical application. First up is to define what business really is.
The Basics
At its core, all businesses sell something that caters to one or more of the innate human drives. There are four core human drives which are:
1. The Drive to Acquire. The desire to obtain or collect physical objects, as well as immaterial qualities like status, power, and influence. Businesses built on the drive to acquire include retailers, investment brokerages, and political consulting companies. Companies that promise to make us wealthy, famous, influential, or powerful connect to this drive.
2. The Drive to Bond. The desire to feel valued, appreciated and loved by forming relationships with others. Businesses built on the drive to bond include restaurants, conferences, and dating services. Companies that promise to make us attractive, well liked, or highly regarded connect to this drive.
3. The Drive to Learn. This is the desire to satisfy our curiosity. Businesses built on the drive to learn include academic programs, book publishers, and training workshops. Companies that promise to make us more knowledgeable or competent connect to this drive.
4. The Drive to Defend. The desire to protect ourselves, loved ones and property. Businesses built on the drive to defend include home alarm systems, insurance products, martial arts training, and legal services. Companies that promise to keep us safe, eliminate a problem, or prevent bad things from happening connect to this drive.
Takeaway: Condensing it down to it’s bare essentials, a business offers products and services that cater to an innate human drive to hoard resources, acquire knowledge, build relationships or defend what they already have.
- “Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Our Choices” Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria
That’s it for this chapter of Wiser Next Week for Business be sure to check out its predecessor, Wiser Next Week.
Kingston S. Lim 
I’ll definitely check it out. I appreciate the bullet points and article layout.
Do we structure our businesses like our personalities? I like the idea of looking at drives, but what about the “drive” for peace? At what point does the desire for bonding and defending our “tribe” confront each other and create a larger inclusive tribe.
There must be a psychological mechanism for recognizing peace, harmony, wisdom, & love that transmutes drives and moves us to principle over precedent.
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Well I think there definitely needs to be a congruence between the way we chose to lead our lives and how we structure our business. Living a constant alter ego afterall, is unsustainable.
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