I just finished, Drive, a book that discusses the theory of movivation.  This topic is of interest to me, so the pages essentially turned themselves. I also was able to connect some principles that I recently learned from a Netflix documentary, Happy.

The movie goes into depth what makes humans happy:
– Close relationships with others
– Personal growth
– Actions to make a better world and being part of something bigger than ourselves

A lot of this was replicated into the book. The things that make us happy (intrinsic items, such as above), and those that we think that make us happy (extrinsic – money, fame, etc.)

The theory explains the three levels of motivation. We have our base/survival motivation.

  1. e.g. The motivation that requires us to eat, to protect our life, etc. Very basic and obvious.
  2. Motivation 2.0 is the reward system. If you do this, I’ll pay you this. If you don’t do this, I’ll punish you. And this is the motivation in which the majority of companies are based upon. This has short term benefits, but long term consequences. If you pay them for doing something, the person now expects it, and the motivation to do the task quickly becomes “work.” This is referred to as extrinsic motivated. This type of motivation is only good for doing mundane, brainless tasks. Now this doesn’t mean that a paycheck isn’t important. It absolutely is. We need to be paid fairly for the work we do. But, after we are paid fairly, money doesn’t motivate us. It’s more of our freedom to be challenged.
  3. Motivation 3.0 centers around intrinsically motivated things. We are motivated to creatively solve problems in our own way. We become passionate about solving problems with our expertise. But, as soon as there’s process, it becomes a process, rather than a challenge.

Type I (motivation 3.0) lives off of three nutrients: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

  • Autonomy is our ability to solve problems in our own way under our own terms. Hire the right people and leave them alone.
  • Mastery is our ability to keep improving. We will never be masters, but we always want to be better than we were yesterday.
  • Purpose is the reason why we work. I do marketing because I enjoy helping other businesses. So, my day should be centered around this.

People who have purpose goals, rather than profit goals, achieved higher levels of satisfaction. 1. Help others with their marketing needs. 2. ALways be challenged on marketing techniques. 3. Sales is about trusted relationships.

The book breaks down people in two ways. Type I (Intrinsically motivated people) vs. Type X people (extrinsically motivated).  For the work that required creative thought, flexible problem solving, and conceptual understanding – Type I people have the passion, love the challenge, and want to help. In fact, Type I people always outperform Type X people.

Now that you have the gist, here’s the main points:

– Always give meaningful feedback. People always want to improve.  Don’t just say, “It’s perfect”. Explain what went well; what didn’t go well.

– Management’s goal should be to provide an environment for people to do their best work. It is not to look over everyone’s shoulder to make sure everyone is doing their work.

– Social businesses. Not only for profit companies. These are companies that are motivated to make money, but also have a social obligation. e.g. Tom’s shoes – Donating a pair of shoes to a third world country for every purchase. OR, a company in Vermont whose goal is to refurbish buildings with green technology at a reduced price.

– Success of passionate people who do not receive paychecks: Wikipedia, Linux, Firefox. etc. People love being challenged.

– Algorithmic tasks (process) vs. Heuristic Tasks (creative thought). In the US that’s a 30/70 ratio. We are built to make creative decisions. Motivation 3.0 spurs more creative thought. When money is the primary motivator, it becomes more about getting it done, rather than the best solution.

– Also, when focused in on the “profit” goals (Motivation 2.0), the process becomes immoral. People do interesting things to hit their goals because they become narrowly focused. They hone in on the money, rather than stepping back and finding the right solution. They use steroids to cheat and focus on goal. This has proved to have a detriment thought on creative thought. Be sure that rather, they are “purpose” goals. Goals to better oneself and that have “purpose”.

– This goes also back to that Zappos theory. Upon being hired, I’ll give $2k to walk right now… because that’s going to be a $2k mistake if the person is only motivated by money.

– People will give more blood if there’s not a monetary award. We used to get paid for our blood, but once this stopped, more donors showed up. Human nature to want to do good. But when there’s money added, this then becomes a job.

– When tasks are mundane – (1. Explain why task is necessary. 2. Acknowledge the fact that it is boring, 3. Allow people to get it done their own way.)

– Rewards are okay, if they are a surprise and provided after the task is complete. And be creative with it. Have a dinner party; get a day off. BUt be wary of just handing over some money. Or it may then become an expectation.

– How can you achieve mastery? Is the goal to get an A in French class? This is not masters, but is extrinsically motivated. Rather, matery is learning French. Mastery is never easy or everyone would do it. Mastery is an asymptote. A line that gets closer to the axis, but never touches it.

– The lives of presidents are generally symbolized by one sentence. When you die, what will be the sentence to describe your life?

– The best times in our lives are not the passive, relaxing times. The best times usually come when our body and mind are stretched to the limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.