Tuesday 29 July 2014

Motivation

This is an RSA animation for a shortened presentation of Dan Pink's, Science of Motivation: Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose.
His well research information is still referred to very rarely, even though this was first presented in 2009.
Extrinsic (prizes and rewards) and Intrinsic (personal enjoyment and satisfaction) motivation are task specific in terms of improving outcomes.
Extrinsic is the classic idea of the stick and carrot.  This type of reward has been used for decades and with good purpose.  Any task requiring mechanical repetition, simply do more of the same thing, extrinsic motivation improves outcomes.  However, this has been proven over repeated studies in multiple countries to have an inverse effect on outcomes if the task requires even rudimentary cognitive skills (creativity and problem solving).  The higher the incentive, the worse they perform.
For these tasks Intrinsic motivation has been proven to increase outcomes.

Intrinsic motivation requires three elements to be most effective.
1. Autonomy: work includes discretion to follow passions, within defined parameters.
2. Mastery: desire for self improvement.  Look for a challenge which may benefit others.
3. Purpose: shared values with employees who are animated by purpose not profit.

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