One of the most useful managerial thinking tools came to me as a result of studying the writings of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).
Freud divides the personality (mind) into three competing systems – Id, Ego, and Superego.
The Id contains all of the inherited animalistic instincts and urges that serve as basic survival impulses such as fight or flight impulse, drive to procreate, and fear of the unknown.
The Ego is essentially the accumulation of life experiences, things you know, based on experimentation and effort. The Ego is the “you” that you create.
The Superego is the judge in your mind that contains all of the morals you learned from your parents and authority figures. The Superego judges what you think or do as acceptable or unacceptable.
Here’s the most usable part of the concept – Freud places all three divisions within one finite energy source he calls “Psyche Energy.”
The total amount of psychic energy is limited and does not change. This is what makes his theory valuable to me. If the Id gains energy, the Ego and/or the Superego lose an equal amount of energy.
The workings of the mind and business, is a closed system. A management problem is a physics problem.
Freud’s model of the mind works. If you meet someone that acts like a spoiled child, his Id is in control. If he is overly judgmental and rigid in his thinking, his Superego is in charge. If he seems perfectly normal, you’ve been mislead.
Everywhere, in outer space and inner space, some material (particles) is present – like a cosmic soup. Nothingness, absolute emptiness, cannot exist.
Contact Rick Fortune at rickfortune@comcast.net.
