This thought provoking video highlights how we’ve been using the wrong techniques to motivate others and it talks about the science of motivation. Studies have shown that our most used method of motivation using the carrot-stick method (i.e. reward performance and punish poor performance) does not yield the results we are looking for, in fact it probably is hurting the performance of your business. Given my capitalistic attitudes, this would require some real proof. After watching the video, it resonated with me and I’m working on bringing some of these ideas to life. These key motivational points are really good to keep in mind:
1. Autonomy: The urge to direct our own lives. This is great motivation for the entrepreneur, however for the employee it is really important to give them the ability to feel autonomous. Provide some guardrails and allow your employee to find their way to the outcome, the creativity may surprise you.
2. Mastery: The desire to get better and better at something that matters. We want to excel at something, provide opportunities for your employees to grow through training, practice, and time. It is a tremendous motivator.
3. Purpose: The yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. Define and communicate a big vision that is impactful - it is a powerful motivator. In one of my companies, our vision is to make life a little more happy and fun everyday by bringing entertainment closer to you.
Are you going to re-think your management style? What do you think about moving away from the carrot stick management style? What do you think about rethinking management entirely?
How about motivation? How are you motivated? Do you think your motivation is enhancing your chance of success or detracting from it? Ultimately, I’m a big believer in doing something that is larger than ourselves and in doing so, we are well on our way towards a successful journey.
Hat tip to Russell for sending me this video.
Well said
Wow - great video Andy!
It’s a ‘duh’ revelation as I re-member the motivation I had to start (the largest) yoga newsletter - and now social site - in Seattle.
Even more, it reminds me to stay close to that core motivation - to Unite & Ignite - in order to motivate others to bring their yoga out into the world.
Self-reflection & focus are found in Yoga. And yoga-preneures need to know that they’re a key ingredient as more self-mastery is being called in to play - in body, in relationship, and in business.
Fires me up just thinking about how much more fun this will be to work from Autonomy, Purpose, Mastery!
I am thinking that the explanation goes back to Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. The need for Self Actualization tops the pyramid, and that exactly reflects the points being made here: Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose etc…
good thought provoking vid. thanks for bringing it out.
Maslow came immediately to my mind too.. maybe I should go dig out those books by Kotler et al from the 80’s
Coming from a psychology background this stuff is pretty brain-dead obvious. But then again, maybe that’s why people keep telling me I’m a natural leader, they just haven’t had the proper training.
Wayne Key is dead on, people use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from everything from management style to marketing for a very good reason, it is absolutely dead-on in how humans lead thier life.
Knowledge of the hopes and ambitions of individuals are unique to individuals, but the driving force behind all of us, no matter who we are, is that force to make ourselves better. Self-help gurus often make the suggestion that the knowledge of who we are is esoteric and beyond easy, one-sentence summaries. But the fact of the matter is that humans are simple creatures who just want to make their way in the world using what god gave us in the best way that we can.
This is a thought-provoking video. Thanks for sharing it. The candle problem requires creative thinking (right brain), while “success” was viewed as the fastest time to develop a known solution. Success in this example is binary, either the participants got the problem correct or they didn’t. Creativity is notoriously inhibited by time deadlines and solutions aren’t always so binary, so I wonder whether the results of these tests prove what the presenter asserts. I would like to see this tested further, where “success” is defined as the best solution (not necessarily the fastest). Would we see the same results? Can the BEST solution be achieved with rewards, or would the best solution come from the groups who received a lower financial reward?
This is certainly an interesting video. But I would throw caution into the definition of autonomy, especially in team based industries (like engineering/project management).
I have been a part of two projects where management fully believed in autonomy, assignments were divided up along clear lines, and the team was made up of exceptional workers (I had worked with the same people before).
But by the close of the deadline, the project teams ended up hating each other because the reality was that they needed to work together on certain parts of their respective assignments - and yet this pull to autonomy caused too many conflicts of interest.
There is definitely a balance to be played out between teamwork and autonomy, which sometimes cannot be overlooked.
Autonomy is a good thing to motivate the project teams but it is also preferable to associate it to clear (not tight) bounds in order to have concrete results.
I don’t believe in the carrot stick (mainly if it is used for a long period) but rewards, when used correctly from a recognition point of view, help the team members keep their energy from a project to another one.
thank you for sharing this video! it is very appropriate for budding entrepreneurs like me. now im thinking if i am motivating myself correctly and am i doing the right things to motivate the people working for me.
The Earning Student