What Is Tragically Misunderstood About Motivation In The Business World
There is an imbalance between what science knows and what the business world does.
These 20th-century rewards, these motivators that we think are a natural part of our business world work, but only in surprisingly few circumstances.
If you tell a group they get money if they solve a task or puzzle faster than the others, they do, but only when it comes to mechanical tasks.
If cognitive skills are needed, in 9/10 cases, the other group will do better without much incentive.
These if-then-rewards often destroy creativity. The secret of high performance lies not in rewards and punishments, but in the invisible intrinsic drive. The drive to do things for the sake of doing something and because they matter.
Google employees have 20% of their working time free every day.
50% of all updates/programs/innovations come from those 20% free time.
That’s mainly because you work on what you enjoy and are interested in.
Capitalism puts too much emphasis on the lower levels of “Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs”.
If we would try to solve the “higher” needs in a targeted way, the economic system could turn around 180°.
We are searching for perfection, and try to satisfy this problem by consuming material things. Advertisers and companies have perfected connecting products with emotions and demands because people often want to buy status and recognition.
However, this is too profit-driven, instead of putting a value on the future and happiness of the coming generations. Happiness is bad for the economy.
If one could overturn this thinking and profitably help people in a profound way in their search for meaning, fulfillment and emotional satisfaction, this would be equivalent to the invention of the light bulb.
Most people don’t feel challenged in their work or think they don’t have any influence on the bigger picture.
It is clear that people often doubt their existence because the job takes up a large part of their life. Our current economic development requires targeted and specific jobs, which one often pursues one’s whole life. This stands in stark contrast to human nature. People are too curious, ambitious, and social to work unhappily in a special field for a long time.
—
Subscribe to my newsletter to receive similar content directly to your inbox.
I sincerely hope my posts impacted your life in positive ways!
https://robinklose.medium.com/subscribe
Since I don’t get paid by Medium directly, it would mean the world to me if you could check out https://ko-fi.com/robink1 and maybe even buy me a coffee with a small tip!
Every amount is greatly appreciated, especially if you leave a kind note at the end :)
