Motivation is a part of leadership, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 It\u2019s providing something that makes followers want to go where the leader is trying to lead them.\u00a0 Traditionally, business has relied heavily on carrot-and-stick motivational tools . . . reward and punishment.\u00a0 And the carrots (the rewards) usually are money in the form of bonuses or commissions, or have monetary value such as paid time off, tickets to the theater, or dinner for two.\u00a0 It\u2019s a simple, straight-forward system.\u00a0 If you do this, we\u2019ll give you that.\u00a0 However, in many business situations, the carrot-and-stick system fails to provide the motivation it was intended to provide.\u00a0 In fact, the carrot-and-stick system can sometimes be de-motivating, completely defeating the purpose it was intended to serve.\u00a0 For more on this, please read below.<\/p>\n
Dan Pink is a best-selling author and speaker who describes a wide range of human behaviors in the workplace.\u00a0 In discussing what motivates people, he talks about studies at leading business schools, funded by the Federal Reserve Bank, showing conclusively that the carrot-and-stick system of motivation works just fine when applied to situations that don\u2019t require much thought, creativity, or problem-solving ability.\u00a0 However, as soon as a situation requires some cognitive skills, carrots do not motivate low performers at all, and they in fact de-motivate high performers.\u00a0 Repeated experiments in different cultural and economic settings brought the same results.\u00a0 So this is not some anomaly . . . it\u2019s the real deal in human behavior.\u00a0 But how can this be?<\/p>\n
Researchers concluded that in highly structured situations with specific, predictable outcomes, carrots narrow the focus of the participants on a specific path to be followed, and that\u2019s a good thing.\u00a0 However, when creativity or decision-making is required . . . perhaps the path is not very well marked or maybe there are forks in the road . . . we don\u2019t want the participants to be narrowly focused.\u00a0 On the contrary, we want them to think broadly about all the options, all the variables, and try to mold them into the best possible outcome.\u00a0 In those situations, carrots don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n
So what does work when cognitive skills are needed?<\/p>\n
First, according to Pink, you need to take money off the table.\u00a0 Pay people enough so they\u2019re not worried about money and can focus on their work.\u00a0 Usually, that means paying them what other people in the company are paid who do comparable work.\u00a0 Then feed their desire for:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Automony.\u00a0 Give them some freedom to exercise their creativity.\u00a0 Don\u2019t micro-manage them.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Challenge.\u00a0 Challenges improve their skills.\u00a0 Improved skills lead to mastery.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Significance.\u00a0 Let them know their work is significant and their contribution is important.<\/p>\n
So the main take away here is, when you\u2019re trying to motivate people to do creative, innovative work, think of ways to feed their human needs . . . and keep the carrots in the fridge.<\/p>\n
Dan Pink has two terrific videos on this subject.\u00a0 If you would like to view them, please use the links below.<\/p>\n