The Business of Motivation

Posted by parkejladd on Sep 11, 2009 in Featured {Article} | 2 comments

Give the proper tools to a group of people that want to make a difference, and they will.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google

Outside factors used to work extremely well as incentives for motivation. A paycheck or a company car or an annual raise or a Christmas bonus, all used to be sufficient prodding devices capable of goading workers into meeting deadlines and out-performing their previous personal bests. The so called “guarantee” of a paycheck every other week used to be impetus enough. It was, and in many cases still is, an openly accepted method of inciting workers to do what many bosses, CEOs and managers believe that their workers do best–work.

The motivation, drive, purpose, heart and stimulus underlying why people work and what they work for is in a state of transformation. This work-foundation remodeling presents a unique opportunity for leaders because many of the past, most frequently applied, extrinsic motivators no longer have the same persuasive effects or carry the same weight as they once did.

In many fields today (but not all), American workers are no longer responsible for assembly-line-esq gadget making. Large and small organizations alike ship their gadget making and their nitty-gritty code writing overseas, saving substantial sums of money, time and resources, thus creating a void of traditional work for the gadget makers.

Insert creativity, innovation and wise use of time here.

People don’t want to work just for money any more. Gadget makers were gadget makers because that’s what was required, and those were the jobs available. Gadget making jobs are quickly disappearing while creative jobs, which require great understanding and leadership, are appearing everywhere. The challenging issue is that you can’t compensate a creative job worker the same way you would have compensated a gadget maker; you can’t incentivize their jobs in the same way; and you can’t expect them to stay busy for 8 hours a day either–wasting time doing invaluable busy work.

And you don’t have to.

If you simply allow creative people to do what they do best–create–then you give them the opportunity to draw from their own intrinsic, heart-felt, passionate motivations, and, when that occurs, everyone moves forward together. Progress and innovation and growth occur when people are free to work on what they are passionate about, when they can communicate openly with everyone within an organization, when they are allowed to form their own teams and their own projects based on their own initiative and ideas.

Workers want to work for a cause, for something that adds value to lots of peoples lives. They want to make an impact on the world not just the bottom line.

Hold on to your creatives at all costs. Allow them the opportunity to be innovative, to build teams within the office environment and to break down bureaucratic walls which hinder communication and progress. Learn (quickly!) how best to nurture the intrinsic motivations which those who work for you and with you so long to implement.

Don’t make monkeys out of your creatives.