It's a solid foundation for understanding rational people.
Folks like the authors of Freakonomics and others, have been expanding the realm of knowledge on why people do seemingly irrational things that go against Maslow's hierarchy.
I suspect if you're hearing it's been "discredited", that's coming from folks who are misinterpreting the newer information.
Often when you dig hard you find a deep seeded instinctual drive that underlies why someone does irrational things.
The best example is the claim that something is "Free!" We humans are acutely attuned to that one.
Take two products, price them Net-identical for total cost to your door, and a huge number of people will go for the one with "Free shipping!" even if the total price is the same.
There's even some elasticity in that, where the lower total price product that doesn't have "Free shipping!" will sell less than a higher priced product that has it.
So by Maslow's little pyramid, the rational person would always buy the less expensive product.
But it's not always what actually happens.
More to the point of Maslow's tree, some people will go hungry to have a $200 pair of tennis shoes, too. They value how they're seen higher than eating.
The best managers find out what motivates individuals, since everyone's private circumstances are different.
A personal example: I can afford to take a month or more off, unpaid. My boss is clueless that he could leverage my desire to do so into a crap-ton of work out of me. Or his hands are tied on that particular option, perhaps. My motivational levels and overall output of work would go through the roof, if I could honestly plan a month or two off each year to completely disconnect and travel. I'd even do it unpaid.
"You get XYZ [really hard] project done, and tested working... You get to leave as soon as it's finished, and I'll see you in August."
I'd be working 20 hour days to complete it and up all night testing. That's just how I work.
The above also leads me to believe I'm headed for building my own business eventually... Just a mixture of not finding the right shingle to hang, and being a big chicken-****/slightly too risk-averse.
Same problem buying into the airplane, knowing it was a bad fiscal decision but wanting to do it anyway. Mrs Denverpilot provided a kick in the ass to move me off the fence because she saw the intangible benefits to me that I didn't see. Best thing I've done in my personal life in a decade. Doesn't matter if I lose my shirt on the thing at the end, I've just adjusted the budget accordingly and made peace with it to gain the happiness and joy of walking to the hangar with keys in hand whenever I feel the urge.
Maslow would say owning an aircraft was way at the tippy-top of his list. But I'd give up a lot, if necessary, to own an airplane now that I have.
