WHAT MAKES YOU DO STUFF?The Psychology of Motivation

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MOTIVATION IS A REALLY VAGUE TERM.

WHAT WE’RE SOLVING HEREClarifying what the word motivation even means

Discovering why you work the way you do

Discovering why others work the way they do

Figuring out how to get you & your team to engage with your work

An Exploration of Motivation

Type I and Type X

Practical Applications

NAVIGATING THIS TALK

WHERE DOES BEHAVIOR COME FROM?

????

Actions

Desires

Needs

Motivation

We begin millions of years ago…

MOTIVATION 1.01,000,000,000 BCE ~ 15000/10000 BCE

Hunger

Thirst

Money

Approval

Other Biological Needs

Eating

Drinking

Going To Work

Being Nice

CENSORED

Circa 1900

Important Names: Freud, Adler, Hull

Drive Theory

“The greater the feeling of inferiority that has been experienced, the more powerful is the urge to conquest and the more violent the emotional agitation.”-- Alfred Adler

MOTIVATION 2.015000/10000 BCE ~ 1950 CE

Reward

More of the Behavior

Less of the Behavior

Behavior

Punishment

Circa 1940

Important Names: Pavlov, Skinner, Linehan

Behaviorist Theory

“The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.”-- B.F. Skinner

MOTIVATION 2.11950 CE ~ 1970 CE

Working Conditions

Pay

Job Security

Enjoyment

Achievement

Personal Growth

Circa 1950

Important Names: Deming, McGregor, Herzberg

System of Profound Knowledge (also lots of other names)

“If you want people to do a good job, give them a good job to do.”

-- Frederick Herzberg

ALL THESE MODELS SUCK.

STRIKE ONE – EDWARD DECI, 1971

1. Participants assemble 2 configurations

2. Deci leaves to “get a fourth configuration”

3. Secretly watches participants for 8 minutes

What do they do?

Test ControlDay 1 No reward No rewardDay 2 Reward No rewardDay 3 No reward No

reward

Day 1 Day 2 Day 30

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Test Control

Seco

nds

play

ing

with

puz

zle

STRIKE TWO – LEPPER AND GREENE, 1973

Now-That

If-Then

TWO WEEKS LATER…

Series10.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

14.00%

16.00%

18.00%

20.00%

Expected Reward No Reward Unexpected Reward

Perc

ent o

f tim

e sp

ent d

rawi

ng

STRIKE THREE – GLUCKSBERG, 1964

Control Group – No reward

Test Group – $20.00 for the best time and $5 for the top 25%

0

2

4

6

8

10

1211.08

7.41

Test Control

Minu

tes t

o so

lve

HUMANS AREN’T JUST IRRATIONAL…

WE’RE PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL.

GLUCKSBERG, TAKE TWO

Control Group – No reward

Test Group – $20.00 for the best time and $5 for the top 25%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

3.67

4.99

Test Control

Minu

tes t

o so

lve

• Structured• Constrained• Repetitive• Designed• “Solvable”

TasksAlgorithmi

c Heuristic• Unstructured• Open-ended• Creative• Evolving• “Unsolvable”

QUESTION TIME!

WHAT IS “WORK”?

“Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and … Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”

– Mark Twain, “Tom Sawyer”

“Work consists mainly of simple, not particularly interesting, tasks. The only way to get people to do them is to incentivize them properly and monitor them carefully.”

– Frederick Winslow Taylor

QUESTION TIME!

DO HUMANS FUNDAMENTALLY DISLIKE WORK?

Start

$500

Quota

Employee of the Month

And so on…

“All models are wrong but some are useful.” – George E.P. Box, “Robustness in the strategy of scientific model building”

WHAT’S THE NEW MODEL?

MOTIVATION 3.01970 CE ~ ?

Predictable Change

Algorithmic Behavior

Heuristic Behavior

Extrinsic Stimuli

Intrinsic Stimuli

Extrinsic Stimuli

More/Better of the Behavior

Less/Worse of the Behavior

EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS APPLIED TO HEURISTIC TASKS

• Increased short-term performance… mostly• Decreased long-term performance

• The larger the reward, the worse the effects

• Cloud judgement• Cause myopic thinking• Narrow both depth and breadth of problem-

solving

DANIEL PINK’S MODEL - TYPE I AND TYPE X

• Motivation 3.0• Both born and made• Performs best in the long

run• Renewable resource• Money is a hygiene factor• Tend to be internally

focused

• Motivation 2.0• Both born and made• Performs best in the short

run• Exhaustible resource• Money is the end goal• Tend to be externally

focused

Type I Type X

THE COMPONENTS OF TYPE I

Autonomy

Mastery

Purpose

Self-Directed

Devoted to improvement

Connected to a larger goal

AUTONOMY“I CONTROL THAT WHICH I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR.”

“Autonomous motivation involves behaving with a full sense of volition and choice, whereas controlled motivation involvesbehaving with the experience of pressure and demand thatcomes from forces perceived to be external to the self..”

– Edward L Deci and Richard M Ryan, “Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of IntrinsicMotivation, Social Development, and Well-Being”

THE FOUR TS

Task

Time

Technique

Team

“Hire good people and leave them alone.” – 3M Chairman William McKnight, ~1930-1940

MASTERY“I STRIVE TO EXPLORE AND BECOME BETTER.”

MasteryEngagement

Autotelic experiences “Auto” = Self “Telic” = Goal

THE THREE LAWS OF MASTERY

Mastery is a Mindset

• Intelligence is a fixed trait

Therefore:

• Exertion signifies a personal limit• Choosing harder goals risks

failure, which implies less intelligence• An “unsolvable” problem

means you should give up

Entity Theory

Incremental Theory

• Intelligence is trainable

Therefore:

• Exertion signifies improvement• Choosing harder goals

increases your mastery• An “unsolvable” problem

becomes a guidepost for learning

THE THREE LAWS OF MASTERY

Mastery is a Mindset

Mastery is a Pain

“Being a professional is doing the things you love to do onthe days you don’t feel like doing them.”

– Julius Irving

THE THREE LAWS OF MASTERY

Mastery is a Mindset

Mastery is a Pain

Mastery is an Asymptote

FEEL THE FLOW!

PURPOSE“I WANT MY WORK TO SERVE SOMETHING THAT

MATTERS.”

Purpose provides a context for mastery and autonomy

Purpose is the “Why?” behind a job

Purpose-oriented goals are better than money-orientedgoals for Type I

SO WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THAT?

BEWARE IMITATORS!“Empowerment”

The Oz Principle

Over-focus on “The Team”

QUESTION TIME!

DO YOU WANT TO BE?ARE YOU TYPE I?

“Passion” “Drive”

HOW DO WE PROMOTE TYPE I?

TYPE I IS CONTAGIOUS!

GENERAL

• Use “Now-That” rewards instead of “If-Then” rewards• Don’t frame traditions or benefits as rewards• Avoid using policies or quotas to deal with problems• Offer real feedback alongside praise• Make your teams “no-competition” zones• Encourage P2P feedback

• Gather shout-outs from your entire team before an all-hands• Give a shout-out a little teeth with spot rewards

HIRING, FIRING, AND MEASURING

• Use the Zappo’s Two Week Trial• Pay more than average• Ensure compensation is both internally and externally

fair• Form teams that are diverse – in training, backgrounds,

personalities, etc• Use performance metrics that are:• Wide-ranging• Relevant• Hard to Game

• Know which employees are which type• Mixing Type X and Type I can be dangerous

• If you’re committing to Type I… be prepared to let people go

AUTONOMY

• Implement a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)• Institute paid time for noncommissioned work• Google Time• Hackathons/FedEx days/Company offsites• “Grouplets”

• Run an anonymous autonomy audit• Practice relinquishing control• Involve your team in goal-setting• Use non-controlling language• Have “office hours”

• Allow selection of project, or at least task

MASTERY

• Find and use your team’s Goldilocks Zones• Drive out fear from your team, especially fear of failure• Make your feedback emphasize effort, not just talent• Allow progress at each person’s pace• When someone gets bored:• Have them mentor someone else into their role• Have them take on more challenging tasks

• Remember that secondary skills matter, too

PURPOSE

• Know your story – as a company, and as a project• Make sure everyone knows that story• Allow people to find their own purposes• Find a balance between purpose-driven and profit-

driven• Animate with purpose, don’t motivate with rewards

•Do good things!

THE MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

• Use “Now-That” rewards, not “If-Then” rewards• Avoid using policies to motivate• Use frequent, real feedback instead of simple praise• Identify your and your team’s Types• Use the three components of Type I to motivate them• Motivate Type X people via algorithmic tasks• Let Type X people convert at their own pace

• Have a concrete purpose• Allow for as much autonomy as possible• Build a culture of mastery• Aim for diverse teams and allow cross-training

ANY QUESTIONS?