Is there a Mismatch between what Business “Knows” and what Science says – What Motivates You?
Posted by Paul, November-19-2009
The Suprising Science of Motivation
A Recent presentation on TED.com has created quite a stir, and you can see why. Dan Pink is challenging the base logic that western society has built itself on. Capitalism, the entire business world, has largely been constructed on a reward and punishment structure; do good and you are rewarded, do badly and you are punished: this pushes business and society to grow: To quote the logic from famous Daft Punk lyrics “work it harder, make it better, do it faster, makes us stronger”.
Rewards, financial incentives, performance related pay are a staple to the way business is done in this country. But, are times changing; is this the creative economy now?
Research has shown that in the 20th century performance rewards or punishments worked well because often tasks where mechanical, and the science shows that the bigger the reward the better the performance. However, new research shows that creative tasks requiring “cognitive skill” are not only not affected by rewards, they were actually hindered.
This is why many of the most successful companies in the 21st century are doing things in a different way; Google, the biggest successor of recent history has what’s called “20% time” where all employees are told to spend 20% of their time working on anything they want, bringing about some of Google’s most successful products; Google News and Gmail.
These new ideas have got a mixed reception, Bruce on Paul Kedrosky’s blog wrote “Sorry. This is just wrong. “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”, isolated academic experiments not withstanding. Yes, we occasionally need to take a break and think “outside the box”. Having said that, the elitist assumption that some of us should spend most of our time incentivized is, I believe, a classic prescription for inefficiency and dramatic decline in productivity or even creativity.”
Bob A said: “A few years ago, I had a boss who asked what motivated me. When I couldn’t answer either Money, Power, or Title, she seemed to be quite perplexed; looked at me like I had 3 heads… But this little talk really gets to the heart of it. I’m not “motivated” to do a great job because of the promise of future wealth, nor the ability to gain more direct reports or influence over C-level executives… What it comes down to is that I want to have a sense of pride in what I do and believe that my efforts are advancing my organization. And in terms of judging the quality of my work, nobody is a harsher critic than I am. I found this talk fascinating and want to share it with colleagues, and HR, but wouldn’t be surprised if they looked at it and decided I was totally whacked…”
A linked in conversation on what motivates you in your work? Further displays the variance in opinion over this matter:
Marc Edwards Network Analyst at Washoe County School District commented on been asked what motivates you at work?
<——($$$$$$$$$Money$$$$$$$$$$$ 
…and the opportunity to find creative solutions to complex problems.
Did I mention money?
Whereas,
Dave Kuhl Owner at Kuhl Lifestyle said:
“Personal enjoyment and fulfillment. What good is money if you don’t have the time or the inclination to enjoy it?”
What do you think? What motivates you in your job? In life? Would a different attitude to rewards at a company entice you to apply there? Would you really work any better or harder?
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