Pile On Motivation

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Tag: Intrinsic Motivation

  • How Motivational Themes have evolved over time

    To stimulate desired behavior in human , motivation is a key need.

    Right from the caveman times to the modern age of drones , motivation has existed but evolved over ages.

    During caveman times , the primary ask was to save lives from other stronger and deadly wild creatures.The Motivation 1.0 model was stimulated by the need to be safe and survive the test of time.

    As human beings survived the test of time wherein other stronger species became extinct , came the need to improve our lives and standard of living.The Stone Age gave way to the Industrial Revolution wherein factories came into prominence.

    The factory model though very effective for quote some point of time resulted in monotony due to dreary , dull and repetitive work.Hence the Motivation 2.0 was all about seeking compliance by means of Reward and Punish motivational techniques.

    Now that we are in age of innovation and creativity more is need to use our Right Brain to innovate by the day.In such a context Motivation 3.0 has evolved which has “Intrinsic Motivation” at its very core.It goes by the assumption that self motivated people need autonomy and a sense of purpose to show their mastery so very needed in the modern day innovative work places.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Motivation 3.0 explains the existence of a L3C company

    A L3C company or low-profit limited liability company (L3C) is a legal form of business entity in the United States for-profit, social enterprise venture that has a stated goal of performing a socially beneficial purpose, not maximizing income

    For details please refer to the following link on Wikipedia.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-profit_limited_liability_company

    Creation of these companies bears ample testimony to the fact that human beings are moving to a stage where they want to look beyond materialistic gains e.g. money and rewards.

    To look beyond this , intrinsic motivation based motivational skills will take prominence and hence Motivation 3.0 coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive will take center stage in this knowledge worker age.

  • “Carrot and Stick” method of motivation and its drawbacks

    The following are major drawbacks of Motivation 2.0 i.e. Carrot and Stick Motivation.

    1. We are intrinsically motivated purpose maxi misers rather than extrinsically motivated
    2. It is not in line with the knowledge worker concept of 21st century economics
    3. Modern day work is increasingly becoming more creative , interesting and self directed.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Why Motivation 2.0 worked in the age of Industrial Revolution?

    Motivation 2.0 coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive is another name for the “Carrot and Stick” method of motivation that became very widely accepted during the age of industrial revolution.

    The definition of Motivation 2.0 is as follows:

    “REWARDING an activity will get you MORE of it.

    PUNISHING an activity will get you LESS of it.”

    When it comes to routine bound , mundane work this works wonders.

    This being said the author takes a step forward and mentions why this technique would no longer hold good in the modern age of a knowledge worker.

  • “Algorithmic” vs “Heuristic” Tasks & contrasting motivational needs

    Algorithmic tasks are those where we follow a set of instructions and reach a conclusion.

    Creativity and ad campaigns are mostly heuristic where the ask is to come up with something new.

    Whereas algorithmic tasks need “Left Brain” , heuristics need “Right Brain” orientation.

    Hence for algorithmic tasks , Motivation 2.0 or Reward and Punish can be a good enabler.

    Whereas for heuristics , autonomy , mastery and purpose part of intrinsic motivation and Motivation 3.0 acts as the catalyst.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive.

  • The common thread that binds “Firefox” , “Wikipedia” ,”Linux”

    All of “Firefox” , “Linux” , “Wikipedia” , “Apache” are open source platform where contributors freely collaborate and share their work with fellow enthusiasts with a JUST CAUSE in mind without expecting monetary benefits.

    This is a classical example of how “Intrinsic Motivation” in the modern age makes money , rewards and the Carrot and Stick motivational method irrelevant.

    Human bonds are natural to us as human beings and is the natural way our brain is oriented to arrive at fulfillment.

    All these iconic entities have set an example and are live use cases why Daniel Pink’s Motivation 3.0 operating system is here to stay and is the way forward.

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive

  • Motivation 3.0 and its components

    Human motivational requirements have evolved starting with Motivation 1.0 during the caveman times wherein the motivational requirements was basic survival needs.

    Then came the Industrial Revolution Age and Motivation 1.0 underwent an upgrade to Motivation 2.0 wherein the “reward or punish” or “carrot and stick” method took off and started showing great results for getting work done out of workers in a factory model mode.

    In the modern conceptual age of the Knowledge worker the time has come to upgrade Motivation 2.0 to 3.0 since when it comes to right brain oriented tasks , Carrot and Stick methods start giving detrimental results.

    Hence the basis of  Motivation 3.0 in the modern age are the following three major components to get people intrinsically motivated in order to get the best outcome.

    1. Autonomy
    2. Mastery
    3. Purpose

    Adopted from Daniel Pink’s book Drive.

  • 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.