Harvard Business School professors Lawrence and Nohria here present a sociobiological theory of motivation, claiming that humans possess four basic drives to acquire, to bond, to learn, and to defend. What makes their theory novel is the way they apply it to the workplace. The authors use historical case studies to show that successful organizations are those that give their employees opportunities to fulfill all of these drives, while those that fulfill only the drive to acquire are ultimately less stable. Examples of both types of organizations are provided. The authors are well versed in sociobiology, and their four-drive theory makes intuitive sense. There are, however, a number of competing drive theories, from Freud's sexual drive and death urge to Steven Reiss's 16-drive theory. The authors acknowledge that the numbers and exact nature of our drives need further exploration and provide suggestions for research projects that would verify their hypotheses. Though this book is accessible to the lay reader or undergraduate, its narrow subject area recommends it mainly to academic libraries. Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Darwin with an MBA. In this seminal work, Lawrence and Nohria combine their world-leading knowledge of organizational behavior with a deep understanding of our evolved human nature. Both managers and theorists will learn from this wide-ranging opus sure to change the way we view the bipedal ape in the corner office."
— Terry Burnham, coauthor, Mean Genes"This book provides a fundamental, controversial, and wonderful explanation of human nature. It provokes you to think more deeply and broadly about what drives people and their institutions."
— Andrew H. Van de Ven, president, Academy of Management, and professor, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
"A stunning, pathbreaking view of the natural biological impulses underlying human behavior and guiding organizational systems. A succinct, pungent case for the coevolution of biology and culture in forming human nature. Tom Peters, move over."
— William C. Frederick, author, Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation
From the Publisher
"Darwin with an MBA. In this seminal work, Lawrence and Nohria combine their world-leading knowledge of organizational behavior with a deep understanding of our evolved human nature. Both managers and theorists will learn from this wide-ranging opus sure to change the way we view the bipedal ape in the corner office."
-- Terry Burnham, coauthor, Mean Genes "This book provides a fundamental, controversial, and wonderful explanation of human nature. It provokes you to think more deeply and broadly about what drives people and their institutions."
-- Andrew H. Van de Ven, president, Academy of Management, and professor, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
"A stunning, pathbreaking view of the natural biological impulses underlying human behavior and guiding organizational systems. A succinct, pungent case for the coevolution of biology and culture in forming human nature. Tom Peters, move over."
-- William C. Frederick, author, Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation
From the Inside Flap
What universal characteristics make us human? Are there biological drives that motivate us as human beings? Why do we choose to do what we do?
At last we have the answers to these and other timeless questions about human nature.
In this groundbreaking book, Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria, two Harvard-based researchers, take a multidisciplinary approach that bridges the gap between the latest findings from evolutionary biology and insights about human behavior derived from social science. Driven compellingly sets forth the authors' scientific theory for understanding human nature and behavior.
Lawrence and Nohria conclude that the way we act is a result of the conscious choices we make. These deliberate choices are fueled by the internal battle constantly raging among our four innate, subconscious, brain-based drives:
The drive to acquire objects and experiences that improve our status relative to others
The drive to bond with others in long-term relationships of mutual care and commitment
The drive to learn and make sense of the world and of ourselves
The drive to defend ourselves, our loved ones, our beliefs, and our resources from harm.
Driven offers a workable model to help make sense of the human experience-- at the dinner table, the card table and the conference table-- and reveals the common heritage of humans, no matter how diverse our cultural or social backgrounds.
The authors-- knowing that humans will always be contentious and never reach the idealized goal of total balance and agreement-- urge us to attend to the well-being of our souls. If we attempt to balance our four drives, we can find the way forward to the next stage of our evolution as human beings.
From the Back Cover
"Darwin with an MBA.." -- Terry Burnham, coauthor, Mean Genes
What Drives You?
The Drive to Acquire?
The Drive to Bond?
The Drive to Learn?
The Drive to Defend?
Learn what two Harvard researchers-- Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria-have discovered about what drives us to make the choices we make. Driven reveals the scientific foundation for an understanding of human nature and the mysteries of human behavior.
"Driven makes a daring leap across disciplinary boundaries to show how recent research in biology sheds light on human nature, and thus social behavior. Social scientists need to pay attention to important works like this." --Francis Fukuyama, author, The Great Disruption and The End of History and the Last Man
"This is a stimulating and provocative book in bringing together important ideas from different fields and, thereby, giving us a whole new slant on 'human nature.'" --Edgar H. Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus and senior lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
About the Author
Nitin Nohria is an Indian-American academic. He serves as the tenth and the current dean of Harvard Business School. He is also the George F. Baker Professor of Administration.
Paul Roger Lawrence was an American sociologist, Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Harvard Business School, and consultant, known from his work with Jay W. Lorsch on "Differentiation and integration in complex organizations."
