Pile On Motivation

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Category: Marketing

  • Extending James Carse’s Infinite Game concept to life and business

    James Carse , the master has talked about two kinds of Games.

    One is Finite where the players are fixed , rules are agreed upon , duration is fixed and there is winning or losing.

    The other kind is Infinite Game where the players are not fixed , rules are not agreed upon and duration is not known.Hence in such a case there is nothing like WINNING or LOSING.

    Simon Sinek in his book The Infinite Game has extended James Carse’s Infinite Game concepts very aptly to life as well as business.

    The following great quote highlights ho to play the infinite game of life or business.

    “There is NO such thing as “WINNING BUSINESS” or “WINNING LIFE” , there is only AHEAD and BEHIND.

    Realizing this will make us better equipped to play the infinite game

  • Best quote that defines “work culture”

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s inspirational quotes:

    “A CULTURE is STRONG when people work WITH each other FOR each other , NOT for THEMSELVES.”

  • Shareholder Primacy versus finite mindset

    Milton Friedman’s shareholder primacy theory requiring every company to give primary focus and attention to direct their attention to safeguard the interests of the shareholders is the primary reason that has given rise to advent of finite mindset and hence finite minded leaders.

    When the Resources i.e. financial metrics with respect to shareholders need to be given primary importance CEO’s often tend to prioritize them at the cost of human resources by means of layoffs.

    In such a scenario the environment becomes filled with mistrust when employees are pitted against each other for attainment of short term targets.

    Hence Milton Friedman’s theory has been the primary reasons we have more finite minded leaders who care for short term benefits prioritizing profit over people.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • We humans are born to be “players” and NOT “pawns”

    Right from the caveman times we are born to be autonomous individuals , not individual automatons.

    Our brains are wired to be intrinsically motivated and hence we are inherently “Type I ” individuals.

    Outside forces including the very idea that we need to be managed have conspired from time to time to change our default setting and turn us into “extrinsically motivated” Type X individuals.

    To return us from Type X to Type I where we are out our autonomous best just needs infinite minded leadership and creation of a conducive environment built on trust.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’ book Drive and Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • How to create a work environment with “Intrinsically Motivated” people

    The need of the hour is intrinsically motivated Type I people who are adept at doing “right brain” oriented work in the best possible.

    The following three principles when adopted in a workplace ensures the nurturing of such intrinsically motivated people.

    1. Create an environment where people feel good to participate and feel engaged
    2. Give people more AUTONOMY
    3. Keep the system as open as possible.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Conducting an “Autonomy Audit” to get the best out of people

    The best and most innovative organizations wherein a lot of stress is on doing “Right Brain” oriented work , giving more autonomy to the people goes a long way in intrinsically motivating the people.

    The essential questions that form part of an “Autonomy Audit” are as follows:

    1. How much AUTONOMY does an employee have over TASKS at WORK
    2. How much AUTONOMY does an employee have over TIME at WORK
    3. How much AUTONOMY does an employee have over his/her TEAM at WORK
    4. How much AUTONOMY does an employee have over TECHNIQUE at WORK.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Motivation 3.0 unleashes our natural abilities

    Motivation 3.0 the new age motivational operating system , a term coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive is driven by nurturing intrinsic motivation in human beings.

    The new age motivational operating system focuses on engagement and learning goals as opposed to compliance and performance goals needed by the carrot and stick method adopted during the industrial age(Motivation 2.0)

    Human beings are inherently scared by compliance and this turns off our creative natural instinct.As a result adopting Motivation 3.0 principles in the modern day of the knowledge worker , where heuristics matter over banal algorithms , taking this route is sure to guarantee success.

  • Why behavioral physics fails to explain prominence of Open Source Software?

    During the Industrial Revolution Era , “Carrot & Stick” technique grew in prominence and produced remarkable results.

    The rational principle was to reward people for doing the routine bound work efficiently and this reward in turn resulted in increasing efficiency.

    On the flip side , punishing people for being inefficient resulted in improvement of efficiency.

    This is in line with behavioral physics as well….

    In the modern knowledge worker age , Open source software has grown in prominence.Be it Apache , Github , Linux , Wikipedia all these are examples where intrinsically motivated group of programmers have collaborated just for the sole reason of prosperity and benefit of their fraternity without expecting anything in return.

    This is thus totally not explainable by behavioral physics and thus proves that adopting Carrot and Stick approach in the modern knowledge worker age can lead to detrimental results.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive.

  • This analogy between “Motivation” and Computer “Operating System” is fascinating

    Daniel Pink’s book drive is a masterclass when it comes to explanation of concepts around human Motivation.

    Like a computer operating system needs upgrade over time to safeguard against vulnerabilities and security threats , similarly “Motivational Methods” need to be upgraded over time to give desired results.

    For e.g. During Caveman times the need was to stay safe from more powerful wild animals and hence safety acted as the Motivational mantra.

    In the Industrial Revolution era , the Motivational methodology needed an upgrade to the “Reward & Punishment” or “Carrot & Stick” method to get the best out of factory workers indulged in mundane routine bound work.

    Along similar lines again in the era of Knowledge worker or in the Conceptual age the “Motivational methodology” needs another upgrade to place more emphasis on intrinsic motivation by giving more autonomy to the knowledge worker.

    The analogy is truly fascinating.

  • Key insight on application of “Carrot and Stick” method

    Daniel Pink’s book Drive provides some key insights on the flaws related to the “Carrot and Stick” method which has been so successfully adopted in the Industrial Era.

    When applied to left brain oriented work for e.g. development of algorithm or mundane routine bound work done in a factory shop floor this method gives great results.

    But when applied in the modern Knowledge Worker Conceptual age where heuristics and Right Brain thinking matter , adoption of this method can lead to very detrimental effects by killing intrinsic motivation.

    Having understood this would help us adopt this approach with caution on a case to case basis.