During this week a lot of students have discussed with me that money is a great motivator. It reminded me of research that I had read.
The research was with college students who were given tasks to do. If you did okay on the tasks you would get a small reward, good on the tasks a medium reward and then great on the tasks a great reward. (video)
What the researchers found out is that this type of motivation worked well for physical tasks. So, if you were asking me to shovel the driveway or unload a truck this type of reward system worked well. However, when cognitive tasks were brought into play this reward system did not work. The people offered the biggest rewards did not get the best results. Thinking about the money seemed to get in the way of the persons performance.
Now, that is not to say money is not important. What is true is that you must pay people enough so that they are not worried about the money and that they can focus on the task at hand. So, if money is not a motivator what is?
There seems to be three things that drive motivation once you take money off the table. Autonomy, purpose and mastery.
In my own home I have seen mastery at work. My son practices his guitar for hours without any compensation. He was determined to become a better player and has spent endless hours working on mastering the guitar. Why, because it is fun and because he could tell he was getting better.
Autonomy is another motivator which I have seen work in the school house. During the year a teacher would allow students to work on a project with the only criteria that the project would help make the world a better place. They would present the project at a school wide fair. What I noticed at the fair is that there were some amazing projects which were developed by students who did not usually shine in school. When given the choice to work on a subject that truly interested them they were able to produce great products.
Lastly is purpose. People generally want to make a bigger contribution to the world than making money. People are motivated by companies that have a philosophy that uses their products or profits to a greater good. My attraction to teaching is that every day we get a chance to make a difference is some persons life.
Money is a motivator in the sense that you must make it a non-issue. Once you have accomplished that mastery, autonomy and purpose take over.
As always I appreciate your feedback.
I think it is fascinating that you said money is a motivator but it needs to become a "non-issue". It is such an interesting view on it and I have never thought about it that way. It really does need to become a non-issue. I am definitely motivated by money at the current time but purpose is definitely another big motivator for me. I want to know that I have a purpose. I want to know that what I am doing has a purpose, something behind it, driving it. I want to make a difference in the world and I like having that motivator behind the work that I do.
ReplyDelete-- Will Cook
Will, purpose is a big one for most of us. It is why I wake up each day looking forward to work instead of some people who dread going to their job.
ReplyDeleteI think determination is a factor that definitely helps someone achieve what they feel like they need to. In order to accomplish what one wants, a set mind and the determination for success in whatever area helps as someone can achieve what they want to. I think the idea that money is the biggest motivator should not always be considered as the biggest motivator. If you set out on a goal and want to accomplish something, instead of focusing directly on money and the physical awards reaped from the battle, the focus should be more directly attached to determination and the personal success achieved.
ReplyDelete-Travis Fruhling
I've never really understood the desire for money. I quite understand its importance in terms of getting necessities and service like that, but I struggle to understand how it drives people's life choices. Now this might pass as pretty subjective, but I've met individuals who have minimal money to their name and it hard to say that they are any less happy than we are. I feel that once money is taken out of any equation, the natural foundations of a human being are brought to the surface. In the sense of motivation, when money is removed, intrinsic motivation is more prevalent and a reasonably more healthy way of going about decision making.
ReplyDeleteSam Vermette ^
ReplyDeleteSam and Travis thanks for commenting. What you will see when you get into the world is that people love to give bonuses for performance and use money as an incentive. Truly never the incentive that drove me but it is quite surprising that it produces worse results. Wonder does the focus on grades produce worse results? Your thoughts
ReplyDeleteI feel like it's important to realize early in life that money is not equivalent to happiness. I view money, or lack thereof, is a problem rather than a motivator, something to be fixed rather than chased after. In my opinion, after financial stability comes a void in which a greater motivation should lie. It is important to realize that money can be a byproduct of whatever occupation makes you happiest. Some people don't realize this and dedicate their careers to money. While it feels good to achieve financial stability, once it is achieved many people lack happiness due to the combination of being content with their financial status and never pursuing what truly makes them happy.
ReplyDelete-Nick Boehl
great point Nick, I think I am going to blog about things that can increase happiness next week.
ReplyDeleteIt's also important to consider that when the reward for a task is really large then performance diminishes because of anxiety and stress (that if you do not perform well, you might not make that amount of money). We talked about this in my behavioral economics class. It's interesting to think maybe people with the largest salaries in a company may have earned that job with hard work but the stress once they get there might be making them less productive. In this case the stress induced by the large monetary reward could overcome the other non-pecuniary drivers or motivators.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your statement about autonomy and purpose in the workplace. One highly successful company that i know of that followers these ideals is the clothing company Patagonia, founded by world famous rock climber Yvon Chouinard. The companies very mission statement says it all, "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis." His entire goal of the company was not to be one of the greatest clothing brands on the planet but to just build gear for himself. This inspired him to create equipment that he could literally trust his life on. He then focused on the greater good for causing as little harm as possible in his production of clothing and equipment. Then he went on further to inactivate in the industry with coming up with entirely new solutions that no other company had answered to. I highly recommend his autobiography and company memoir "Let My People Go surfing." I also believe personal reason for success is key to our government and economy as with ought it (Communism, Marxism or Socialism) our global economy would fail as there would be no reason for the common man to work harder for if there is no end all outcome from it. This can be seen in places like Venezuela but I lament.
ReplyDelete-Henry Jones
Lyra great point about the building up of anxiety you take the focus off the job performance and instead put it on the money. Henry I will check out the memoir and put it on my summer reading list
ReplyDeleteAbout a month ago, I was reading about the different generations in the workplace. There I learned that money and financial stability is a main priority Generation Z (1997-2015). Gen Zers would prefer to go to a college where they will come out debt free and a stable job over a college that they love and are completely happy at. After learning this, I have found that this is true with many of my friends at college. Students are so focused on stabilty after college and how much money college costs. For them, money is a major motivator and decision maker in their college choice.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that money is such a concern for our generation with all of the mental health focus nowadays. You would think that our generation is more focused on happiness than money. Does money make happiness then?