As a leader, is your staff working at the level of Motivation 2.0? If so, how might they achieve flow?
Two main drives powered behaviour. The first was the biological drive. (i.e. Motivation 1.0)
[The] second drive came from without - the rewards and punishments the environment provided for behaving in certain ways. (i.e. Motivation 2.0)
Motivation 3.0
[The] newly discovered drive - 'intrinsic motivation'.........the state of optimal challenge called 'flow'. What drives participants is "a set of predominantly intrinsic motives" - in particular - "the fun...of mastering the challenge of a given...problem"...
...we need to move beyond the idea of Homo Oeconomicus (Economic Man, that fictional wealth-maximizing android). But his extension goes in a slightly different direction - to what he [Bruno Frey] calls Homo Oeconomicus Maturus (or Mature Economic Man). This figure, he says, "is more 'mature' in the sense that he is endowed with a more refined motivational structure."
From: Drive by Daniel H. Pink
Published by: Riverhead Books
OK. So, intrinsic motivation is the key. This gets me thinking about how, as leaders, we can work with our staffs to find ways for work to be intrinsically motivating. I'm thinking that it would be more involvement of staff in determining what the work would be like and how it could be done. In other words, within the parameters of the organization, how can we support staff members in designing their work so that it supports intrinsic motivation. This will take some thought on my part.....but I think it's something that could be done. Over time, I can see this evolving.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post Richard.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with the shift in motivation we need to make. Here is a video about the "motivation shift" you're talking about. I'm sure some of you have seen it before, but if not, it's quite interesting and well done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=player_embedded#at=24