Credit: Jerry Bauer
Why are we so scared to let go of the carrot and stick approach—the “Motivation 2.0” operating system?”
There are a number of reasons. First, it’s easier to offer up tangible “If then” rewards—as in “If you do this, then you’ll get that”—than it is to figure out how you can help someone get greater autonomy, move toward mastery, or live a life of purpose. And never underestimate the power of inertia. If people are used to doing something one way, it’s hard for them to unlearn that behavior even if a new behavior is better for them. And finally, there’s the curious phenomenon of people underestimating others. When I give a talk about some of these ideas people will often come up to me afterwards and say things like, “Well, you know, not everybody wants autonomy or can handle it.” I ask them, “Can you?” And invariably they say, “Yeah, but I’m different. I’m the exception.” Or they’ll say, “I’m really concerned about mastery. I want to do some of the things you’ve proposed but others don’t feel that way.” It’s like going before an audience and asking how many of you think you’re above average drivers and 99% of the people raise their hands. We’re constantly underestimating the people we work, teach, and live with.
Part of Friday series on Motivation. Series one will be quick posts with Daniel Pink, followed by a series of other motivational articles.
What motivates YOU?
Listen to the interview here >
Conversation with Daniel Pink. You can download the show to iTunes by clicking the icon on the player.
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[FTC disclosure: Daniel Pinks publisher sent me a copy of the book, Drive and the Q & A materials I am using here as posts]
Credit: Jerry Bauer
Can you cite any companies that are fully embracing these ideas?
I don’t know if there’s any single company that’s doing so across the board, but there are examples out there of companies that have adopted at least some of these ideas. One of my favorites is an Australian software company called Atlassian. The people that are putting a premium on autonomy by allowing their engineers to set aside an entire day, once a quarter, to work on any problem they want, in any way they want, with anyone they want. There are only two rules: whatever they work on can’t be part of their regular job, and the very next day they’ve got to show the rest of the company what they’ve created. (That’s why they call them “FedEx” days—people have to deliver something overnight.) Over the years, this odd little exercise has produced an array of software fixes and innovations that might otherwise never have emerged. As one engineer there put it, “Some of the coolest stuff we have in our product today has come from FedEx Days.”
It astonishes me that more companies aren’t doing things like this. It’s silly in a way. These guys are doing this radical thing—giving employees autonomy one day a quarter—and the results are breathtaking. You’d think others would want to follow suit. Unfortunately it goes against the old carrot and stick motivation folklore. Actually, to be fair, there is another company—3M—that pioneered this type of thing years ago under the leadership of a progressive CEO named William McKnight. His credo was “Hire good people and leave them alone.” He encouraged his employees to engage in what he called “experimental doodling” and instituted a new policy that allowed the company’s technical staff to spend up to 15 percent of their time on projects of their choosing. The result was a harvest of innovations including Post-It notes, which are now a monumental part of 3M’s business.
Part of Friday series on Motivation. Series one will be quick posts with Daniel Pink, followed by a series of other motivational articles.
What motivates YOU?
Listen to the interview here >
Conversation with Daniel Pink. You can download the show to iTunes by clicking the icon on the player.
Please help with a book project for a client by filling out this survey.
What is death? h
ttp://bit.ly/9K3JQr
[FTC disclosure: Daniel Pinks publisher sent me a copy of the book, Drive and the Q & A materials I am using here as posts]
