This is worthy of 10:48 of your time. This is a very entertaining video narrated by Daniel Pink, author of "Drive". "Drive" outlines how science is blowing the roof off of what business thinks about motivation. Special thanks to Matthew P. Block, Strategy Mastermind Group member who found this video and brought it to my attention. . 1 Comment  I saw a great example of how standard business practices really mess with people today. It really highlighted for me the gap between what science knows about people and what business thinks about people. I went to McDonald's this morning for breakfast (I got a yogurt in case you were wondering). They were getting slammed. The drive-thru line was around the building and to the street. There was a line of 4 people inside (where I went) being helped by one girl at the counter. In the corner of the restaurant, an employee was sitting drinking coffee before his shift started (which was to be in about 30 minutes). The employee saw they were being slammed and that they were starting to get behind, and he came up from his table and went behind the counter and asked the manager, "tell me where I can help you most". The manager shrugged it off gently saying, "you can't work while you aren't on the clock". Before I continue, I should share that this McDonald's is well operated and this manager appears to be very good at her job (I am a management stalker...). I should also acknowledge that this is likely corporate policy that was likely created for liability purposes. I know all of these things, but what the employee did next was fascinating. He ignored the manager and went to work without clocking in. The manager finally went to him and told him, "you can go ahead and clock in early". The employee politely ignored her while grabbing some potato cakes from the fryer. The manager went back to work for a minute or so and then went back to him saying, "you can't work while not on the clock... it's not fair to you". The employee went right on working... off the clock. Observing the other employees quietly observing this in the chaos, they seemed to get a spark of life. They had been dragging and struggling with the crowd. Suddenly this one employee jumping in while off the clock seemed to inspire the whole team. The line accelerated. Furthermore, the employee worked with a quiet confidence and satisfaction. I'm telling you right now, many of the management books and MBA programs would tell you that this kind of things should never happen. They would tell you that the employee would never not only volunteer to not get paid, but refuse the pay when offered. They would tell you that the other employees would not work harder when they saw this. They would tell you that the manager shouldn't have let him work and should have reprimanded the employee. Maybe it's time to start thinking about how people REALLY tick...  Times are hard... do you tell your people or protect them from the truth. I'm going to answer that question with an observation. I encounter companies who are struggling from time to time. One common characteristic of these firms is that their employees think things are actually worse than they actually are. Did you pick up on that? They think it is WORSE than it really is. What is the impact of this employee malaise that comes with suspecting things aren't going so well? Remember that the 3 key components of motivation are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When an employee feels that things are going badly and that their may be no future, they 1) don't know how to stop it, 2) don't have any control to turn it around, and 3) they stop feeling a part of something bigger because they feel there is no future. Motivation is killed across the board. These companies struggle to perform at every level. It shows in their customer interactions. It shows in their lack of new ideas. It shows in their energy. Remember that you are always communicating with your employees, even when you aren't telling them anything. When things are bad, they almost always know.... often even before the owner acknowledges it. Confront the brutal facts and rally the troops to action. If you are going to go down, do it kicking and screaming and working together. Success is not a component of motivation, but it can be a result. Keep your people engaged and get their input. Otherwise, you may find that your employee's worse case scenario isn't as "worst-case" as it would seem.... . This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.  When my son was 3 years old, I would want him to drink milk instead of juice for dinner. I would just give him the milk and he would throw a tantrum. Tough, right? I am the boss and he needs to drink milk. Case closed. Then I got a tip from my mother that accomplished the same end. When I went to get my son's milk at dinner time, I would ask him if he wanted a blue cup or a red cup for his milk. He would select the color of the day and happily drink his milk. Employees are NOT children, but this example shows something very powerful. People are much more motivated to do something when they have some level of autonomy. In fact, studies on motivation show that people are more motivated in an environment where they feel competent, autonomous, and related to what is going on. Autonomy is critical. Yes, you are the boss, but you don't have all of the answers. Even if you do, there is value in letting your employees chart at least some of their course every day. They may even come up with a better way to do something than you would have thought up yourself. You set the limits (ex: you MUST drink milk) and then give them some autonomy on the "how" (ex: blue or red cup). TRY IT OUT! Is there something specific that you have trouble getting your people to do? Pull your people together and talk to them about why you want them to do what it is that you want them to do. Don't tell them how to do it. Let them figure it out. Let them ask questions. Simply paint a picture where one possible solution is the thing you want them to do. See what happens... . | ArchivesAugust 2011 CategoriesAll |
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