A Reboot to Motivation?

Does the concept of motivation need a reboot? According to Daniel Pink, a reboot is not quite enough, motivation needs a whole new version. I recently listened to the audiobook version of Drive by Daniel Pink and it gave me much to ponder. I often consider myself as someone who is driven and motivated, but before going through this book, I had never stepped back and thought about the differences between intrinsic and external motivating factors. I had also never really considered how the reasons we are motivated have evolved, and can continue to evolve. This book gives a good look at how to approach motivation and drive both personally and from a business perspective.

The Different Factors
The book describes how there are two main types or factors of motivation: intrinsic and external. This might not be the point that the author was trying to drive home (pun intended), but I contrast the two as things that you have to do (external motivation), and things that you want to do (intrinsic motivation). Let’s start with external factors because I’ll be honest, these are the things I typically think about to help “get me out of bed in the morning”.

External motivating factors are just that. These are the things that you historically have had to do to survive and maintain the lifestyle that you want to live. These factors include making money, supporting a family, paying the mortage, and the list goes on.

Intrinsic motivation lies more with doing specific things because they bring us interest, passion, and joy. Curiosity was a large point here, and children were brought up as an example. Young children often seem to be enamored with learning and figuring things out. Intrinsic motivation is what seems to drive us when we are young. Daniel then goes on to describe that at some point, many of us seem to be drawn to, or maybe pushed to external motivation as a main focus. For example we hit a certain age and need to get a job, car, apartment, house, etc.

The Motivation Operating System Versions
Personally, being in different roles within information technology disciplines throughout my career, I appreciated how motivation was likened to an operating system with multiple versions developed over time. It helped me understand where we have come from and where we could go, in terms of drive and motivation.

Version 1
Version 1 of motivation was all about the goal of survival. The motivating factors here centered around staying alive. Finding food, shelter, and safety were the main objectives.

Version 2
The book then goes on to describe that eventually humans evolved to a point in which we were able to adopt a new version of motivation. Once we as a species got past being in literal survival mode every day, the concept of motivation needed to evolve as well. Version 2 adopts the “rewards and punishment” method, also known as the “carrot and stick” approach to motivation. The main idea here is that if you do something good or what you are supposed to be doing, you get a reward, but if not, you receive some sort or punishment or negative reaction. While this can be and is effective to an extent, there are scenarios in which this method can be counterintuitive.

Version 3
Version 3 of the motiviation operating system is meant to address the shortcomings of version 2. Daniel writes that version 2 works well for tasks and activities in which the steps to complete those tasks and activities are well documented and laid out. Version 2 is centered around the concept of “if/then” rewards. If you go through these steps and complete these tasks everyday this week, then you will receive your paycheck. However, this type of system falls short once the tasks are not as straightforward. Once we start needing to complete tasks in which we have to be creative, the “if/then” system of rewards can potentially be harmful. The idea is that when we are externally motivated for tasks in which we must be creative, or need to persuade others, we may cut corners or not have our hearts and full energy and creative abilities dedicated to the task at hand. From a business perspective, version 3 of the motivation operating system is about finding those intrinsic motivating factors that were introduced earlier.

How Do We Upgrade to Version 3?
On the business/career side of things, I think we all understand that money is a major driving factor which brings up version 2 of the motivation operating system. You get hired to do a job, and if the work gets done, you get paid. If the work does not get done (or done well), you may not have a job there for long. We are back to the carrot and stick method of motivation that works in some cases, but can be detrimental in others like mentioned earlier. With this seemingly being the norm, how do we upgrade to version 3 of the motivation operating system in those instances that it is necessary? Daniel Pink explains a couple of ways to do this that I thought were noteworthy. First off, compensate employees enough so that they are not worried about their compensation. To me, this allows the employee to feel at ease with their pay and are more freed up to focus on doing their job well. The other method that stood out to me was to give people autonomy over their work. It seems that people will be more engaged in the work when they have control over what they do and how it gets done.

Final Thoughts
I do not think I really new what to expect when I started this book. As I got into it, I can definitely say that to this point, I have been more focused on external factors of motivation (version 2) rather than intrinsic factors (version 3). Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my career, but I think I could better maximize it and my personal life if I change my perspective, at least somewhat. For example, I consider myself a “life-long learner”. From an education perspective, I could balance learning concepts that I feel like I have to learn, with those that I more so want to learn. I will probably have to make a conscious effort to better understand what makes me geniunely curious. This should be fun. I think a good step that might be helpful for me would be to tie this back to my strengths that I learned about from the Now, Discover Your Strengths book and companion StrengthsFinder test. Leaning into my inherent strengths should be a good guide for helping me to find intrinsic motivation.

Featured image from Ricky Esquivel via Pexels.