The seasons of Elton Mayo's life

the vision of his biography expanded by Anthroposophy

Abstract

This article applies the anthroposophical-based biographical methodology in the analysis of the life stages and legacy of George Elton Mayo, who is considered the father of the School of Human Relations. The methodology of the biographical work was created by the physician Gudrun Burkhard from the approach of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and is based on the Goethean observation of the events of human life. From this perspective, life presents cycles of seven years, permeated by developmental crises that drive human beings to carry out their life mission. The biographical work is complex, as it comprises three observation pillars: imaginative cognition, inspirational cognition and intuitive cognition, which, respectively, correspond to: at first, seeing life through images and colors; then, the observation of the acts performed and the meetings that influenced the trajectory; finally, to observe the rhythms, mirroring and metamorphoses, originating from the Cosmos, that affect human life. The purpose of this article is to present the biographical panorama of George Elton Mayo, with the perspective of identifying the developmental milestones and their relationship with the guiding thread, the life mission.