Empowering Tech Creators to Unlock Human Potential at Scale
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Imagine a world where workplace software unlocks psychological safety and purpose while also transforming managers into positive, conscious leaders. A world where social platforms genuinely strengthen relationships, and dating apps actually help you meet the right person and stay with them. Where education platforms help children cultivate self-awareness, resilience, and a personal growth mindset. Where productivity apps maximize users’ time and energy and health apps increase deep sleep time, spur movement, and inspire mindful meditation. Now all of these things and more can happen with the launch of the Human Potential Index, a new measurement that empowers tech creators to unlock human potential at scale.
By the time COVID-19 struck in early 2020, the development of the Human Potential Index had already begun. As more people started to focus on what really mattered to them – health, financial stability, resilience, and relationships – its application and value quickly became more focused.
I, along with cognitive psychologist Dr. Jeff Smith and leading self-actualization scientist Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, co-created the Index, which is currently the most complete measure of human potential for tech creators. We released it publicly in April 2022 with the intent of giving tech creators a process to build positive tech and a tool to measure their success.
What started as an effort to re-imagine an employee engagement survey to truly increase thriving and performance at work turned into a new measurement that tech companies can use to measurably unlock human potential at scale.
Scott Barry Kaufman, Jeff Smith, and Courtney Bigony create the Human Potential Index in 2020.
Following a legacy of self-actualization
The human potential movement originated in the 1960s at Esalen, a holistic learning and retreat center located in Big Sur, California. It was spearheaded by humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow, who was one of the first to suggest that people were motivated by higher needs, like growth and self-actualization, once their basic needs were met. Maslow’s theories helped shape the movement, and he worked on them until his passing in 1970. While he never completed his theory of self-actualization, he seemed to know someone would pick up where he left off.
In a journal entry three years before his passing, Maslow wrote, “I just don’t feel up to writing all the things I feel I ought to, the world needs, my duties...I don’t have the stamina. So the thought is to save it all in little memos in these journals and the right person to come will know what I mean and why it must be done” (Lowry, 1982, p. 869).
Scott Barry Kaufman was that person. Years later, he came across Maslow’s unfinished manuscripts and refined his theory using modern science to help us understand what it means to be self-actualized in the 21st century. Scott, who refers to Maslow as a dear friend he’s never met, is exactly who Maslow would have wanted to finish his story.
The most complete measure of human potential for tech creators
Building on the work of over 100 academics, including Scott’s updated science of self-actualization, Scott, Jeff, and I identified all the needs, skills, behaviors, and mindsets central to human thriving and created a single measurement that includes the following constructs:
Health & Vitality
Financial Wellbeing
Psychological Safety
Resilience
Autonomy
Strong Relationships
Self-Awareness
Healthy Selfishness
Self-Compassion
Intrinsic Motivation
Strengths
Personal Values
Self Regulation
Mastery
Self-Esteem
Optimism
Gratitude
Curiosity
Compassion For Others
Personal Growth Mindset
Progress
Meaningful Contribution
Mattering
Passion
Purpose & Meaning
Flow - Absorption
Flow - Challenge & Skill
Positive Identity
Hope
Inspiration
Peak Experiences
Creativity
Self-Actualization
A timeless measure
More than two years into the pandemic, it’s clear that people everywhere want more from their lives. Depression is on the rise and expected to be the leading cause of disease by 2030 – just eight short years away. The year 2021 saw the greatest number of resignations since records have been kept. Science shows that individuals’ well-being depends on their needs being met. There’s no question that many people are depressed, disengaged, or simply languishing, and it’s likely due to unmet needs.
The 33 constructs in the Human Potential Index include all the needs, behaviors, mindsets, and skills central to human thriving. These constructs matter now and will for every generation to come. The full measurement, which is currently in development, will include over 70 constructs and will grow over time as science evolves.
Tech creators now have a real way to help their users
As the most complete measure of human potential, the Human Potential Index enables Silicon Valley tech companies to measurably unlock human potential at scale and co-create the modern human potential movement.
Many tech companies have lofty missions related to human thriving, yet very few know if they’re achieving their stated mission. With a lack of business metrics in tech beyond user growth and engagement, it’s nearly impossible to measure what really matters. The Human Potential Index changes that. For the first time ever, tech creators can measure the positive impact of their products.
Using the Index, organizations can measure how well their product offerings deliver on their stated mission and assess whether their technology is positive technology. Social platforms can now measure and truly increase high-quality relationships; workplace platforms can measure and increase psychological safety and purpose; and more. Now tech companies, like Facebook and Twitter, can create a positive-sum game between business and its users. Tech companies can now prioritize both profit and human potential.
You can find the Human Potential Index in our Guide to Positive Product Design here.
Note: This article was edited by Laura Kramer.
References
Lowry, R. (1982). The journals of Abraham Maslow. New York, NY: Penguin.
Courtney Bigony, MAPP, is a Strategic Science Advisor to 15Five, identifying concepts from positive psychology that can be built into their software platform to help organizations worldwide increase thriving at scale. Courtney is the creator of Positive Product Design™. She holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied with the father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman and is a Fellow at the Center for Evidence Based Management. She was named a 2019 Workforce Game Changer by Workforce Magazine, and has contributed pieces featured in Forbes and Huffington Post. You can connect with Courtney on Twitter @CourtneyBigony.
Positive Product Design was selected by Fast Company as a 2021 World Changing Ideas finalist in the Wellness Category.
