Motivation is on the Way!

Day 7

Up: 8:55am

Left for Work: 10:02

Video: Daniel Pink on the Surprising Science of Motivation

If your boss came to you and said, "hey, do the work you're supposed to be doing, and if you get it done, I will give you $100 bonus," you'd think it would light a fire under you, right? You'd think it would force you to work smarter, and that your performance all around would improve, right? Wrong.  Daniel Pink tells us of several studies to suggest just the opposite.  Studies where subjects are told to complete complex problems to reap a reward show far weaker performance results than those where subjects are given free time.  That being said, in studies where the two groups were told to complete a menial task, the free group suffered, while the motivated excelled.  What does this tell us? Most obviously, this shows on a grander scale that in most white collar jobs, bonus structures do not increase productivity the way that managers think they do, but, conversely, act as a hindrance.  Now, not only are these managers squandering productivity by creating constraints, but they are shelling out unnecessary cash bonuses to those who do meet their quotas. On the other hand, when applied in workplaces where employees are given not only an expected outcome, but also a map to achieve their goal, this bonus paradigm can have an opposite, advantageous effect.  This is not to say that there should be no motivating factor in white collar work; quite the opposite.  Motivation, for higher productivity, needs to be allowed to flourish within the minds of the people.

Pink talks about three foundations to success in the modern business model as being autonomy, master, and purpose, respectively.  By these, he means to say that the most success is found in situations where employees are given complete autonomy at work, so long as their end result is achieved.  This makes nothing but sense! People are allowed to use their own methods to achieve their end result.  Who wouldn't work harder, smarter, faster, if it meant that they could go home earlier.  Autonomy leads to mastery - these people begin to fine-tune their skills, and along the way, work with more pride in their work and perfect their profession.  Why is this important? How does this apply? Well it applies more than you could ever know; it applies to everything you do! Let's just say that I'm not writing these entries because someone is compensating me.  I do what I want...if I don't do one of them (like yesterday) it's on no one but me.  I am, however, really trying.  I'm finding what works because excellence (note: not perfection) is what matters to those who are given the freedom to achieve it in their own way.