{"id":1819,"date":"2009-05-28T09:08:42","date_gmt":"2009-05-28T08:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progmanager.wordpress.com\/?p=845"},"modified":"2009-05-28T09:08:42","modified_gmt":"2009-05-28T08:08:42","slug":"motivation-power-and-self-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2009\/05\/28\/motivation-power-and-self-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivation, Power and Self Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
\"Leeds<\/a>
Leeds Photo by Barnaby Alldrick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carmine Coyote has written a provocative post which explores the fundamental dishonesty of motivation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But I think Carmine has given motivation a bum rap!<\/p>\n

What has been called ‘motivation’ is really ‘manipulation’.\u00a0 Manipulation to get people to do something that the manager wants them to do.<\/p>\n

Now I don’t think any manager can ‘motivate’ anyone beyond the short term fix of the pep talk.\u00a0 (I think that we should set trading standards onto speakers who claim to be ‘motivational’.\u00a0 The good ones might educate about motivation – but in my experience the motivational, as opposed to the educational, impact of their presentations tails off within a few hours of their closing remarks.)<\/p>\n

What managers can do is to help each employee to get really clear on their (the employees) self interest and how working towards organisational objectives serves it.\u00a0 Once this is done motivation will follow as sure as night follows day.\u00a0 Or the employee will leave to find a place where they can pursue their self interest more effectively.\u00a0 And this really forces employers to look at the value proposition that offer to their employees.\u00a0 Why should good, compassionate, competent people choose to spend their working hours with us?\u00a0 If it is just for the money then “Houston, we have\u00a0 problem!”<\/p>\n

Self interest, rightly understood, properly negotiated with others and then pursued with vigour and power leads to remarkable results and one of its many by-products is ‘motivation’.\u00a0 Others are inspiration, creativity, innovation, passion, energy, vigour, strength.\u00a0 But the proper negotiation with others is critical.\u00a0 Blending self interests, weaving them together,\u00a0 ensuring that they reinforce rather than undermine each other, lies at the root of all high performing teams.\u00a0 And this is the real craft of the progressive manager.<\/p>\n

The trouble is most of us feel uncomfortable about pursuing self interest.\u00a0 We are uncomfortable talking about it.\u00a0 We don\u2019t even like to give ourselves the time to think about it.\u00a0 We have been socialised to suppress our self interest and look for opportunities to serve others.\u00a0 And VERY few managers build the kind of relationships where self interest (of all parties) can be clarified and negotiated fully to the benefit of all.<\/p>\n

Carmine’s point about the fundamental dishonesty of motivation, that it is about getting people to ‘do more work for less reward’ is, I believe, a misrepresentation.\u00a0 Employees who create value deserve a proportionate share of that value and this depends on the proper negotiation of self interest<\/em>.\u00a0 If the negotiation is not proper, but unfair, then self interest is not fully served and as a result motivation erodes.<\/p>\n

Increasingly the nature of the reward is more than simply financial.\u00a0 Employees are looking for a diverse and intensely personal cocktail of rewards with ingredients that include fulfilment, challenge, flexibility, creativity and personal and professional development.\u00a0 These are essential components of self interest for most of us and help to keep people motivated at least as much as money, which is just a hygiene factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Appreciation also needs to be part of the mix.\u00a0 It absolutely is part of the package of ‘rewards’ that most of us look for at work.\u00a0 And it is a part of the job that many managers struggle with as they tend to leave things alone until they go wrong.<\/p>\n

And perhaps we (professional management educators) need to do more with managers on ‘motivation’ as an emergent property – the preconditions for which require a full and proper negotiation of self interest(s) and the development of the employees power to pursue it with vigour.<\/p>\n

And while I don’t think that people are any different in the third sector, I do think that the cocktail of self interest often needs to be much more carefully balanced.\u00a0 And many third sector managers forget this at their peril.\u00a0 Few of us join social enterprises to be overt vehicles for the delivery of government policy.\u00a0 We join social enterprises to promote social justice.\u00a0 And the ‘self interests’ of politicians and the promotion of social justice are rarely properly negotiated.<\/p>\n

Your thoughts….<\/p>\n

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