November 5, 2010 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer

I recently read "Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us” by Daniel Pink.

Usually when we think about motivating someone we think of rewards or punishments. According to the research that Pink quotes in the book that only works for very routine tasks (i.e. stuffing envelopes) and for a very short time period. Plus the drawback is that if you expect someone to do the same task at another time, you need to up the ante on the reward (or punishment).

People will allow themselves to be motivated if the task you want them to do has meaning to them, and has a creative and/or beneficial aspect which makes the person participate in the greater good of the world.

That said, the reality is that no one can be motivated. No matter how perfectly the project or task is in terms of helping the greater good, people won’t participate unless they want to. Bottom line...you have to want to participate, no one can motivate you to.

Beth

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