The Ultimate Theory of Motivation — How to Motivate and Manage a Team

Today’s system (society’s system) is just wrong.

Are you a business owner? Are you an employee? Are you someone with personal goals? Then this is a MUST READ!

Companies are “motivating” their employees the wrong way

I wouldn’t even call it “motivating”, because in most cases, the result is the opposite: less productivity, more turnover, more employees leaving the company.

What do companies do then? They try to incentivize with you with money, but that doesn’t always work. “If you do this, then you get a nice bonus” — This only works for simple tasks like band work. Pay them well to keep them happy.

However, for more complicated tasks, it doesn’t work.

Professor of Behavioral Economics, Dan Ariely, said: “As long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance”.

— “But when a task required even rudimentary cognitive skill, the outcome was totally different: the offer of a higher bonus led to poorer performance.”

It seems like most companies don’t realize this.

There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does

Social scientists know how to motivate people, but most managers don’t apply this. Traditional rewards (money) aren’t always as effective as we think.

Managers say: Money & bonuses — are the best way to motivate people

On the other hand: Scientists and proven research says that the following 3 points are the biggest motivators for us:

• Autonomy — the desire to direct our own lives
• Mastery — the urge to get better, or develop skills
• Purpose — the need to do what we do for reasons bigger than ourselves

Giving people autonomy, a drive to master the skill, and purpose are superior motivators. These are the 3 building blocks for intrinsic motivation.

For example, reading about something because it’s fun to learn is an example of intrinsic motivation. Reading about something to receive praise from an instructor is an example of extrinsic motivation.

How to apply this?

Basically, it comes down to letting your employees use their imagination and intrinsic motivation instead of forcing them to work on a certain assignment all the time.

Let them work freely, let them work for glory, give them a purpose. Emotions and Freedom — lead to greater productivity.

Our education system

This theory connects with our education system as well. I believe schools are failing in motivating students to perform higher level thinking or even any thinking at all.

Grades act as incentives/rewards the same way as money does. Teachers should focus on guiding and motivating students and motivate students to believe there is a purpose to the work they are doing, to stimulate higher cognitive thinking.

Some teachers do, some don’t. However, this does not mean the grading system should be replaced, but other motivational factors should be implemented. Everyone can use rules and guidance to stay on task, but there should always be a level of freedom that allows them to find their own reasons or motivation.

Great examples of intrinsic motivation (how it should be done)

Obviously, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations need to be taken into more consideration for building success within companies.

Example #1: The ROWE — Results Only Work Environment — This strategy is a more radical one. As long as the work is done, people are free to work whenever, wherever they wish. This boosts independence, boosts output, and lowers staff turnover.

Example #2: Microsoft Encarta vs. Wikipedia.

Encarta was developed by highly compensated managers and specialists who were also given regular extrinsic rewards. On the other hand, unpaid (autonomous) volunteers created Wikipedia because they thought the project was worthwhile and for enjoyment — Not to mention the feeling of fulfillment you get when you are a “Wikipedia author”.

Example #3: Continuing to work at the same company because you enjoy working there. Striving to perform better to improve your skills. Staying late at work because you love what you do, because it gives you a sense of fulfillment.

Example #4: Giving your employees challenges instead of tasks. Let them use their own creativity to come up with a solution. This will challenge them — contrary to exactly telling them what to do.

Conclusion

We can strengthen ourselves, our businesses and perhaps even affect global change if we go past the outdated methods, and allow employees to be more motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

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