Paul's Blog

Cathexis--The Most Important Word You've Never Heard Of

Dear Visitor,

Here is a term you've probably never heard of before--"cathexis." It is a psychiatric term originally coined by Freud. I first read about cathexis in Scott Peck's famous book, "The Road Less Traveled." Peck describes cathexis as the process by which the people, places and things we freely invest in become part of us. If we freely invest in our employees, for example, they literally become part of our identity, or sense-of-self, and we subsequently defend them as though they were part of us. Here is an article that I wrote about the mysterious process of cathexis. Let me know what you think.

Best Regards,

Paul Herr
Author of Primal Management

Cathexis--The Most Important Word You've Never Heard Of!

Management theorist like Fredrick Taylor and Alfred Sloan promoted a cool, rational approach to management that has held sway for over 100 years. Taylor, the father of scientific management, was a mechanical engineer by training who sought to create efficient, machine-like workplaces. Alfred Sloan, another engineer-turned-theorist, wrote, “loneliness, distance and formality” are the CEO’s duty and in business you need to be “rational, not personal.”
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Paul's Manifesto PDF Print E-mail

RevolutionI hope to ignite a revolution in management thinking with Primal Management. I basically want to prove to the business community, once and for all, that it is far more efficient to manage with the carrot than with the stick.

My book gives employee-focused managers the intellectual firepower they will need to defend themselves from the forces of bureaucratic, impersonal, hyperrational management. 

Revolutionary Vision

I foresee a hopeful future that is optimally rewarding and productive and where human beings operate at their best (hmm, sounds rather like Maslow’s self actualization).  We will reach this desirable destination by building our corporations synergistically around human nature instead of on top of it.  

Best selling author, Ricardo Semler, called this approach “natural management”—not capitalism, not communism, but something altogether more rewarding and productive. 

Create a Win for All Parties

A successful religion grows, I suggest, because it provides an emotional win to its parishioners. I’m hoping that the ideas in Primal Management will spread virally for a similar reason--because everyone comes out an emotional winner—employees, managers, customers and shareholders.

If you'd like to learn more about this "natural management" revolution, drop me a line and I will send you some chapters to evaluate.

Viva La Revolución,

Paul Herr

Author of Primal Management
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