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March 18, 2008

Wants, Not Needs

by Ethan Schutz

The purpose of using Element B: Behavior and other instruments is to help people increase their self-awareness and enable them to make changes in their behavior. The way that we, as facilitators and coaches, work with people to help them understand their psychometric scores and create change is crucial. How effectively we do this is driven by our training and experience and by the structure of the instruments themselves. In its original formulation, FIRO theory was posited as a "theory of interpersonal needs," and FIRO-B was designed to reflect this. Years of experience, however, showed that this wording limited people's growth.

A Practical Assumption

Our job as facilitators, coaches, and consultants is to help people change their behavior and make improvements in their work outcomes. We really do not know if or how much people need inclusion, control, and openness, so it is more helpful to assume that people want some amount of each of these. In Will Schutz's words, "it is much more valuable to assume you have the capacity to change anything you do not like about your behavior, if you allow yourself to learn how." This reorients problem solving by keeping people focused on their own role in their lives. In other words, it pushes people to take ownership of their own behavior and choices.

Will Schutz based The Human Element approach on several underlying principles that he believed were most powerful for creating change in people. Two of these principles, Choice and Limitlessness, are tied to the issue of needs versus wants. Download the rest of the article, and join us on March 26 at the next Element B Users Group.