Lee Holmer wrote:
>
> On Wed, 23 Jul 1997, Winfried Dressler wrote:
>
> > Yet, I like the picture of a "button of intrinsic motivation". My question
> > is: How can I find my button? - Did anyone of you found your button? How
> > did you find it? Where was it? ...snip...
>
> Winifried's questions remind me of a great book I once read, "Do what you
> love and the money will follow" by Marsha Sinetar.
>
> The idea that people are truly motivated by what they love, and that are
> ultimately most successful by doing exactly that, certainly argues against
> the premise that managers can (and should) press people's motivation
> buttons. Actually, generally accepted management theory about motivation
> suggests that managers can (and should) focus on creating an environment
> in which people's intrinsic or extrinsic motivation can flourish while
> contributing to organizational goals. The idea that managers "motivate"
> people has been losing ground, although the field is still a long way from
> explicitly adding "love" to its prevailing equations.
Lee, I'm in total agreement.
My experience as a motivator convinced me that the motivation buttons I
was trying to push were of two varieties (though, at the time, they seemed
more diverse). One button was the manipulation button. Short-term gains
only (met my needs--not their's). The other button was the
"Encourage-the-heart" button. Finding their internal motivator(s) and
exposing them, or reminding the person what those motivators were. Not
only short-term, but long-term gains--and the consequences were mutually
satisfying. Interestingly enough, it was usually through discipline and
by applying the highest standards of behavior that became the most
effective way to push the "encourage-the-heart" button. For many years
after their experience, many of those whose heart I sought to encourage
(whether through conversation, discipline or role-modeling), came back to
report the satisfaction and success they had experienced as a result.
That kind of feedback convinced me. The real key to success here, I'm
sure, was the deep respect and love I felt for so many of those thousands
of youngsters, and the explicit knowledge I had that they could succeed!
It was when I couldn't find any button corresponding to their heart that I
had to grudgingly admit failure and simply attempt to manipulate--or
eliminate (as a resource).
regards,
Doc
-- Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Thresholds--Human Development and Networking for Learning Organizations Visit my website at <http://www.thresholds.com/> Please note my new e-mail address--<mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com>"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>