Pile On Motivation

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Category: Entrepreneurial

  • How to replace the use of Motivation 2.0 for performing routine bound tasks?

    Motivation 2.0 a term coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive is another name for Carrot and Stick or Reward/Punish way of motivating people to get results when the work is dreary , boring and mundane.

    Since in the modern day of creative and innovative work we need to move towards intrinsic motivation as the basis for motivational techniques for e.g. Motivation 3.0 hence Daniel Pink provides the following 3 options to be incorporated in any mundane work to get results while still being focused on Motivation 3.0 related principles.

    These 3 options to make routine bound work interesting are:

    1. Offer a RATIONALE why the routine task is necessary
    2. Acknowledge the fact that the TASK is BORING
    3. Allow people to complete the TASK their own WAY

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Why extrinsic rewards are a source of depression?

    The Carrot and Stick method of motivation to stimulate desired behavior from individuals focuses on EXTRINSIC rewards to stimulate desired behavior.

    Rewards in such a case act as an addictive agent and activates reward seeking addictive behavior in individuals.The expectation of reward stimulates nucleus accumbens and makes us eager to perform the task in the expectation of rewards.This may even come at the cost of unethical behavior , narrow short term focus and other malpractices.

    But these rewards are in no means a source of fulfillment since the enjoyment is short lived and makes us long more such rewards.When the rewards are not received it leads to depression and flow of cortisol.

    Thus the way forward is intrinsic motivation driven motivation system that focuses on fulfillment as opposed to addictive rewards.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Understanding the science behind reward cues in casinos

    Casinos surround themselves with reward cues for e.g. inexpensive food , free liquor , surprise gifts , potential jackpot prizes etc. to act as reward cues in order to stimulate the Nucleus Accumbens in the human brain.

    The Dopamine or Addictive chemical that flows as a result stimulates risk seeking behavior in human beings to divert them from their risk averse nature.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • The truth fMRI reveals about rewards

    fMRI or Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging reveals activation of Nucleus Accumbens and the flow of the “Addictive” chemical named “Dopamine” when extrinsic rewards are provided.

    The results are similar to addictive behavior produced as a result of consuming cocaine , alcohol or gambling.

    The downside of “rewards” due to addiction reveals an alarming truth that rewards can lead to both “risky choice” and “risk seeking mistakes”.

    The addictive feeling due to dopamine delights then dissipates and then demands another dose.This is never a long lasting feeling of fulfillment.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Flaws in Newtonian physics vis-a-vis flaws in behavioral physics

    Let us look at Newton’s first law:

    “An object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted by an outside force.”

    Newtonian physics runs into problem when mass no longer remains constant i.e. at the subatomic level.Down there things get freaky.

    Similar let us look at the Motivational mechanism existing in the era of Industrial Revolution.

    “Rewarding an activity will get you more of it.

    Punishing an activity will get you less of it.”

    This motivational technique holds good for mundane , routine bound work but fails for “right brain” oriented created and innovation based work.

    Thus like we need to tweak Newton’s laws to cover all scenarios similarly to covering motivational aspects of the modern day we need to move from Motivation 2.0 to 3.0

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Why new business models demand a new motivational technique?

    Motivation 2.0 or Carrot and Stick Motivational technique suffers from the following drawbacks as a result of which due to emergence of modern day business models , the need is to have a new Motivational technique i.e. Motivation 3.0

    1. As human beings we are intrinsically motivated by a SENSE of PURPOSE not extrinsically motivated by the CARROT and STICK method
    2. Economists of the modern day are slowly realizing that we human beings are full fledged human beings NOT single minded economic ROBOTs
    3. Work emerging in the modern era is more “right brain” creative & innovative as opposed to “left brain” oriented compliance seeking routine bound

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Moving from IF-THEN to NOW-THAT rewards

    Motivation 2.0 a term coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive explains the rationale behind the huge success of Carrot and Stick based motivation for doing routine bound mundane work in the age of Industrial Revolution.

    Carrot and Stick motivation is another name for IF-THEN rewards where rewards are provided as a bait to produce expected routine bound behavior.

    In the modern age of the knowledge worker where there is a lot of emphasis on innovation and creativity IF-THEN awards can absolutely demotivate the knowledge worker and produce detrimental results.

    Daniel Pink goes a step further and says that if at all rewards have to be given to stimulate expected innovative and creative behavior the IF-THEN rewards should in turn be changed to NOW-THEN rewards.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • The three incompatibility problems with Motivation 2.0

    Motivation 2.0 a term coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive , relates to the Carrot and Stick method of motivating human beings.

    Though it has been very successful in the age of Industrial Revolution where work was mainly mundane and routine bound , it fails in the modern age of the knowledge worker due to the following three incompatibility issues:

    1. How we organize what we do
    2. How we think about what we do
    3. How we do what we do

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • These are the five essential traits of Great Leaders

    Simon Sinek in his leadership lecture mentions about 5 essential traits of Great Leaders.

    They are namely:

    1. Courage to challenges status quo without coming in the path of anyone
    2. Taking accountability for their own actions
    3. Help people to their left and right by being trustworthy
    4. Practice being the last to speak by having great listening and assimilation skills to conceptualize the big picture
    5. They do not believe in being leaders because of their rank or position

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s leadership lessons

  • Extending parenting to leadership

    Leadership is very similar to parenting.

    Like a parent feels proud to see their children do better than what they did in life , a great leader similarly feels great to see others around him prosper and do better in life.

    Along similar lines just like a parent never disowns a child , a great leader always puts will over resources to ensure that they do not resort to layoffs(removing employees) to meet quarterly numbers.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book Together is Better.