Ernest Becker (1924-1974) was a cultural anthropologist and interdisciplinary scientific thinker and writer. He is probably most famous for one of his nine books, Denial of Death, published in 1973 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 (for general non-fiction) two months after his own death from cancer at the age of 49. During the past 20+ years, I have met only a few people who have read all or portions of Denial of Death. Most people have never heard of it…or of him. So, what is Becker’s relevance to today’s business world?

I think it is explained by what I consider to be his most important insight. Briefly explained, Becker acknowledges that no one can deny physical death but there is another form of death than can be denied: That which occurs when we become wholly preoccupied with fulfilling others’ expectations of us. Presumably Becker had a strong sense of his own mortality while writing Denial of Death. He fully understood the importance of meeting one’s obligations to others. In other books as well as articles, he discusses human duality in terms of man’s simultaneous awareness of both physical existence and symbolic significance. So what? Actually, in my opinion, a great deal. These three questions raise issues that many (if not most) of us in the business world contend with each day:

1. What is the value to me of what I do? Hundreds of major research studies involving millions of people throughout the world confirm that feeling appreciated and believing in the value of the work they do are among the needs that are most important to them. At work and in our personal lives, we need to feel we feel (and be made to feel by otgers) that we are appreciated and have value.

2. How can I meet all of my obligations at work and in my personal life? This question raises balance issues. Experts on this subject point out that some obligations are more important each day than are others and thus require more attention. Relative importance can change, sometimes suddenly as when there is a crisis. The best advice suggests trying to balance only what is most important at work and at home and focus on those obligations of greatest importance to both.

3. When meeting those obligations to others, am I also meeting obligations to myself? If not, then we are demonstrating what Henry David Thoreau describes in Walden (1854): “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.”

As another New Year begains, I urge those who share my interest in these issues to check out one or more of these other books: Alan Watts’s The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture, written with Jeffrey Zaslow, and How Will You Measure Your Life? co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon