More on Why Money Doesn’t Motivate
by Miki SaxonA few weeks ago I wrote that money isn’t the best motivator, lots of people have written posts with a similar theme and the idea is backed up by solid research.
But I saw a great video on the subject at Feld Thoughts and thought I’d share it with you.
(I’m not sure which I like more, the presentation or the technology that animates the whiteboard:)
Image credit: YouTube
June 4th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Thanks for sharing this clip. Generally we view the themes expressed in the video as unrealistic in a business setting: “doing purposeful/meaningful work”; “innate human drive to make the world better”; and “treating and thinking about people as PEOPLE and not as machines or work animals.”
But in this video it is telling us that we cynical people are not being realistic at all because this is how real people in the real world actually works.
And the problems we are having is because we don’t believe or implement these values in our businesses in the first place. (as long you pay them a fair compensation of course).
Dianne Crampton’s team culture book:“TIGERS Among Us: Winning Business Team Cultures And Why They Thrive” also provides samples of successful companies like 4Refuel and Zappos that provide a work culture that treats ‘people as people’ and where the values of interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success are supported.
Hence, we can’t simple use money to make people committed or engaged. What we can do first to increase productivity is to check our company’s culture and systems if it enables or restricts the most powerful work motivators for people according to Daniel Pink: Autonomy,Contribution, and Mastery.
June 8th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Hi Celina, the idea that money isn’t the best motivator isn’t new. I found it to be true when I worked as a headhunter in the late seventies, throughout the eighties and into the early nineties. I found then and now that those who disbelieve are those to whom it doesn’t apply.
We all attribute our own attitudes to those around us and assume that what drives us will also drive them. Typically that’s a bad assumption, but, then, most assumptions are bad and/or incorrect.
Thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts.