Here is one more trick that I’ve learned to help keep myself motivated. I have an index card (actually two stapled together) where I’ve listed out both big and little things that drive me or that I want to do more often. For instance, the first item listed is “go outside and play with the dog.” This relates to what I said yesterday about get moving – getting up and getting myself going. Another one listed is “Notice the little things.” Too often I think we miss (or dismiss) those little things as trivial or not important – when they are very important. For instance, the nice thank you e-mail that you should send someone, recognizing someones insight in a meeting or realizing that they just stepped out of their comfort zone. These are important.
This list keeps growing and it is a nice way to remind myself of things I should focus on or keep top of mind. I always get energized after reading it.
It is hard to keep myself fully motivated everyday. I tend to have days where my motivation keeps me energized and engaged so much that I don’t realize how much time has passed. Then there are other days where I don’t seem to get the wheels turning at all. This is not uncommon. Through the interviews and focus groups we’ve conducted, we’ve found that many people (and groups) go through this ebb and flow of motivation. We tend to have periods where everything is clicking and others where we just can’t get started. The trick is to be able to understand that this happens to all of us, recognize when it is happening, and then put in place some “habits” that can help us get out of the doldrums and back to peak performance.
For me, I’ve found a few “habits” that really help:
1. Get moving. I find that if I can get up and move around for 10-minutes, I come back refreshed and more motivated. We know that moving pumps more blood into our brain, allows us the chance to see new scenery and provides a break from our routine. I try to walk outside if I can or go down and spend 10-minutes on the ellipse. I come back ready to go!
2. Start something.I am a procrastinator. If I can put it off until later – I usually do. However, I find that if I just start something, I can get going on it. I typically start with something small (i.e., write a few lines for the next blog posting, put a rough outline together for the next team call, create the timeline for our next project). What I’ve found is that this can get me going and then I just keep working.
3. Read our Credo (i.e. Mission Statement). At The Lantern Group we have a credo (www.lanterngroup.com) that is all about what we believe in. When I re-read the credo it energizes me to think about what it is that we are doing and why. While I don’t expect everyone to have a credo (although it might be a good idea) the same process would apply to reading one’s goals or mission statement. The idea is to refocus on the big picture and re-energize oneself.
Would love to hear how you keep yourself motivated everyday – leave a comment and let us know! Thanks.
Vikings vs. Packers: Favre and the Four Drive Model
I am a resident of Minnesota and have grown up a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. I am not diehard fan but I do appreciate the game of football and enjoy watching a good competitive game.
Tonight is a big night in Monday Night Football, as the Minnesota Vikings face off against their rival the Green Bay Packers. At the heart of tonight’s story is Brett Favre. Most of you know who he is, but if you are not a football fan he used to be the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for many, many years (and had a guest appearance in “Something About Mary”). The border battle rivalry and the Favre factor have all the makings of a historic game.
Motivation is written all over this story in the hearts of the players, the fans, and the advertisers it seems everyone has a motive for wanting to be a part of this epic battle.
The Four Drive categories are clearly present in this competitive football match up. I thought it would be interesting to try to quickly categorize Brett’s motivational profile.
Here is how the Four Drive Motivational Scorecard shapes up for Brett Favre:
Acquire & Achieve: Winning! Brett has never won against the Green Bay Packers. A win tonight would be a great achievement!
This drive is also a bit of a mystery for Brett as he turned down a $20 million dollar retirement plan two years ago from Green Bay for not playing – obviously the Acquire (money) component drive isn’t primary. The need for winning however is key.
Drive Level: Average/High Drive
Bond & Belong: Brett has been a part of the Minnesota Vikings for less than 3 months. He was with the Green Bay Packers for 16 seasons. This is a tough component for professional sports figures as they tend to move around a lot. The experience of tonight’s game will help Bond him to the Minnesota Vikings and bring a sense of Belonging to the team and the fans.
Drive Level: Low Drive
Challenge & Comprehend: Tonight’s matchup is a challenge for Brett. Anytime the Vikings play the Packers it is a challenge that conjures up the best-of- the-best of the players’ skills and talents. Preparing, practicing, and understanding the upcoming match are a part of the challenge. Getting the adrenaline drive from the competition must have a significant factor for Brett.
Drive Level: High Drive
Defend & Define: Brett is out to Defend his character as an iconic quarterback who can still deliver the win. This game will help Define his new legacy as a quarterback with the Minnesota Vikings.
Drive Level: Average Drive
Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game the motivational drivers are ever present. If you watch the game tonight fill out your own Four Drive Motivational Scorecard and see how it matches up against Brett’s.
Each person on the planet has their own unique ideas, interests, talents, skills, and motivators. Even twins who share similar DNA have different opinions, interests, and motivators. So if we understand this, why do so many organizations have one set of motivators to try and change the behavior of the masses?
Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?
Our society is moving toward more and more customization. Have you noticed the increase in choices you have every day, from customizing your morning mocha to creating your own webpage. So why is it that many organizations continue to do things the old way? You might hear the old adages: “change is hard, we do not have the budget for such customization this year, (insert your own phrase here), etc.” Motivation is not just paying people more or offering them more perks and bonuses. Has anyone seen or taken an MBA course on how to motivate your employees that entails more than reviewing Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs? I believe that managers in this new economy and beyond need a different set of skills in order to harness the potential of knowledge workers.
Most managers understand that part of their job is to motivate and engage their employees. Some of the typical avenues might be: one on one status meetings, periodic outings for lunch or coffee, or maybe sitting in on project meetings to see how things are going. These three instances are an example that there is ample opportunity and time to customize an employee’s motivation. So why does it not happen on a regular basis?
When customizing an employee’s motivation a manager needs to be skilled at understanding the employee’s four drives; Acquire and Achieve, Bond and Belong, Challenge and Comprehend, and Defend and Define. Once they understand their employee’s individual four drives the next step is to discover what the employee is not saying about what motivates and drives them. Many times when you ask someone, “What Motivates You?” they will probably give you an answer fairly quickly – but by digging and reflecting a little bit deeper into their answer you may discover something else entirely. There is more to motivating employees than just utilizing one model and tools.
The four drive model is a good start but a manager also needs to understand reflective questioning techniques, asking open ended questions, utilizing gap analysis, and paying attention to body language, etc. Managers need to customize their motivational methods based on these insights.
For instance, Employee A really likes to be seen as an expert – so provide opportunities for that person to shine and be recognized as the expert (i.e., lead a brown bag lunch, ask them to help present at a Senior Leadership meeting about something they know well). Employee B wants to feel part of a close knit group so create avenues for that to happen (i.e., hold small team lunches with two or three people, set up small work teams to address some particular issue). Employee C has the drive to Acquire so the manager must focus that person on what they can do to earn more (i.e., review the incentive or recognition program with them, work with them on what they need to do to get a raise). The important part is to understand how each person is motivated and to tap into that motivation. This isn’t easy.
As I stated in the beginning of this post, every person on the planet is unique. Managers have an incredible opportunity to develop and grow their employees but it will take adopting and learning some new skills and a genuine time commitment.
Employees are more than just their paycheck; they are each contributing their time, skills, knowledge, and talents to an organization. I believe they deserve our time and attention, what about you?
Last night I watched the new season of the television show The Amazing Race. I have been a fan of the show since the beginning and I enjoy watching the team dynamics as the show progresses from Day 1 to the finale. The overall concept is teams of 2 people travel around the world encountering challenges and roadblocks along the way. The end reward is $1,000,000 to the team that wins.
As I watched the different teams interact I noticed that the teams each year can be categorized into different groups. The same types of teams end-up being casted on the show. There are the athletes, newly engaged couple, related couple, oddballs, brainy, older, rocky relationship, etc. I am sure the casting is done primarily to mix up the groups so there is tension, good competition, and some laughter in between the madness of racing around the world.
The other thing I noticed is the Four Drive model of motivation working within the team dynamics.
Acquire and Achieve: Clearly the teams are competing to win a prize, a smacking $1,000,000. Not a small sum of money and one that kicks up the competitive gears when things tart getting tough. In addition, achieving the success of winning the Amazing Race has a sense of accomplishment and notoriety in and of itself. It is also interesting to watch the individual challenges and the faces of individuals after they are successful – one can actually see the sense of achievement being felt after completing a challenge well.
Bond and Belong: The teams of 2 people are inherently bonded as they have an established relationship prior to going on the show. The relationships are tested through the various challenges and obstacles met along the competition. Many of the contestants have chosen to go on the show to test their relationship to see if it will withstand the pressure of such a rigorous competition. Some make it through and are stronger because of the experience while others crash and burn without any sign of recovery. The other piece is the contestants have a sense of belonging to a group of people that have done the Amazing Race before them. It is a shared experience not only with their current competitors but with the ones that have competed before them. A small group of the world’s population and they share an experience that brings them together.
Challenge and Comprehend: The Amazing Race is set up to challenge the contestants mentally and physically. The various roadblocks along the way can be exhausting on top of the fact that they have just traveled half way around the world with little or no sleep. Each day the teams are faced with numerous challenges from the mundane (catching a bus) to the extreme (moving heavy mud around or herding ducks). This is pushing the mental and physical capabilities of the contestants at every corner. In addition, add in the piece of understanding the norms and behaviors of a different culture it is amazing that the contestants make it out of the airports.
Defend and Define: This drive comes out full force in a competition for $1,000,000. I have seen teams lie, cheat, and manipulate their way to the finish line while others have defined themselves in a different way. Some teams try and stick to their values of being nice, helping out other teams, and working with an alliance. The teams that take the nice route end-up having a few speed bumps along the way but in the end they learn a lot about what pushes them to their breaking point. How they define who they are as team and how they defend it is fun to watch.
I encourage you to work with the Four Drive model as you watch your favorite television shows and within your day-to-day work environment. You might be surprised to find some of the same ‘characters’ present in your workplace utilizing the four drives to motivate them to the finish line.
This is a very interesting video (albeit a little long) about the rise of behavioral economics and its impact on the economic and political world . I find this topic fascinating as it helps in understanding some motivational impacts and also the limit of some motivational theories (including the Four Drive Model). We can all learn from the insights here.
I want to state that while I agree with some of the comments I disagree wholeheartedly with some others. In particular, I tend to agree with the ideas brought up by Leigh Caldwell and Mike Savage, and pretty much dismiss the conclusions made by Emre Ozendoren. The idea that by nudging behavior in a way that is deemed more appropriate is in some way totalitarian is utterly preposterous. It is indeed, in my mind, dismissing the idea that we have choice. What Emre is missing is that we are already constantly nudged. The fact that changing the nudge to be something that is going to be more beneficial for society or for individuals is not invasive – it is just a different nudge than the one that is currently going on.
Also, I believe there is a little bit of sophistry going on when the presenters talk about the behavioral economists calling people “irrational.” The “irrational” component discussed by most behavioral economists does not propose that we are mad or a little cracked, but refers to the fact that we do not always behave in a classic economists’ rational manner. In other words, emotions come into play and we don’t always optimize our economic well being. The fact that some of the speakers in this are trying to position the behavioral economists viewpoint as stating people are mad is a little misleading.
All in all – this video raises some good thoughts and sheds some light, I believe, on the juncture of classic economics with the newer thoughts around behavioral economics. Watch and enjoy!
PS – sorry for the big words – I think the accents got me thinking in a very academic manner…
I poised the following question to an on-line professional sales group that I’m a member of:
“What type of short term sales incentive rewards work best? I was wondering what people in the group thought were the best types of short term incentive rewards? Research shows that most people will tend to pick cash but that performance actually is better with non-cash rewards (trips, merchandise, etc…). What are your experiences with this – have you seen a difference in sales results with different types of rewards?” Within 24 hours I had received 45 responses. I summarized those 45 responses and created the following summary that I presented back to them. I thought that this might be interesting post for this blog as well… here is my summary:
Thanks everyone for such great input on this question. Your responses have definitely provided some great insight into what makes an effective short-term incentive. I will attempt to summarize the 45 posts on this so far and would love more feedback in case I’ve missed something.
In general, it appears that most respondents felt that cash is a key part of the overall compensation, but that it is probably NOT the best medium for a short-term program. There is a strong preference for non-cash and recognition type of rewards. As Greg D put it, “Recognition drives as much healthy sales will as money.” As indicated in the question itself, research has shown that non-cash awards typically outperform cash awards in the same incentive program. The general gist from the responses so far seems to support that finding. Dick O said it best when he said, “I can’t remember all of that cash that I’ve won. ..I’ll tell you though, that I remember each time I was recognized.”
There was also a significant emphasis on not having a “one-size fits all” approach and to create individual incentives whenever possible. Dana W summarizes this feeling with “No one incentive is going to work for all people.” Another aspect that was discussed was bringing in others (spouse, family) to the reward. These types of rewards were thought by some to provide “extra” incentive to earn them. Allowing sales person input into the actual award was also mentioned.
A key component to this all was brought up by Tim M and Tom F – that the structure of the incentive is as important or more important than the type of reward offered. On this I would have to agree. In my experience, how the program rules are structured, who is eligible to win (or more importantly believe that they can win), the timing of the incentive, and how results are measured are going to make or break any program. As Tim stated, “…the type of reward has less to do with the success or failure of a contest or incentive than the STRUCTURE and TIMING of the incentive.”
Thanks to everyone for their input – I’d love to have more discussion on this and how incentives can be structured to be more effective moving forward. On an end note, just some of the fun reward offerings that I found interesting: bottle of wine and dinner, time off, give to charitable foundation, becoming a member of a special “club.”
I spent last Saturday morning cleaning up my neighborhood. This is an annual volunteer event that the Whittier Neighborhood association sponsors and we’ve done it for a couple of years now. In a matter of a little over two hours my wife, my 3 year old, and myself collected three large garbage bags full of litter. The things that people throw out and leave on the sidewalk and street are amazing. Obviously there are the cans and bottles, the candy wrappers, fast food wrappers, the old newspapers and magazines. There were also expired prescription pill boxes (with pills in them), paint cans, CDs, and some items that are used by young lovers in parked cars that get thrown out when done (ewhh….). But by far the largest number of items I picked up were cigarette butts. There were literally thousands on the 10 blocks that we had to clean. I felt like I was walking in an ashtray when I was done.
It all got me thinking – what motivates someone to not litter? Obviously, it is often easier to just deposit your trash out the window of your car or drop it on the sidewalk – so what makes someone motivated to go to the little extra effort to dispose of trash in a more appropriate place (such as a trash can)? I think that most of it comes down to the “D Drive” (that is the Drive to Define and Defend). I’ve written about this before but here is a quick refresher. The Drive to Define and Defend is about how we defend those things that are important to us when they are in danger – our family, our business, our neighborhood. It is also about how we define ourselves (i.e., what type of person am I) – thus, I am motivated to do behaviors that are consistent with my personal view of myself or that match the tribe or organization I live in. Our motivation to not litter then is based on if we believe that our neighborhoods are in danger of being overrun by trash (not literally overrun, although after my Saturday morning experience, who knows…). Do we look at leaving a candy wrapper or a cigarette butt on the street as not respecting our neighborhood or our world? Think about the “Don’t Mess With Texas” slogan – did you know that was done originally to reduce litter on the Texas highway system? And it worked – because it helped define the problem for people and also activated their Drive to Defend. It was a great campaign that made people realize that to feel proud about Texas, they needed to ensure that they didn’t “mess with it” by littering. Even the terminology is ripe with defensiveness.
Now if only we could create a “Don’t Mess With Minneapolis” campaign!
While I’m dismayed at the present moment, I’m hopeful that with the revitalization of our neighborhood, that the litter will decrease. People will feel more pride in living here and take more care of our streets and sidewalks. That they will feel the pride necessary to defend the neighborhood from trash and cigarette butts. So please don’t mess with Minneapolis – keep your Butts in the car!
