In 2010 The RSA published a video on YouTube called The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. Narrated by acclaimed author Dan Pink (and based his book Drive), the video advances a few key (if counterintuitive) concepts – namely that:
- while financial rewards may serve as an effective incentive for purely mechanical tasks, for tasks requiring creative, conceptual or cognitive thinking financial incentives actually result in lower performance; and
- if you pay people “enough to take the issue of money off the table” then AUTONOMY (the desire to be self directed); MASTERY (the desire to be better at things) and PURPOSE (the desire to make a difference) are the key factors behind employee engagement, professional satisfaction and performance.
At less than 11 minutes in length, the video doesn’t go into a lot of detail on these points (you should read the book if you’re interested in more details) but it’s still game changing because not only does it provide guidance for team and organisational leaders it also provides a potential starting point from which to reflect on your own career.
The challenge centers on answering the question of how much is enough to “take the issue of money off the table”. It can be useful to come at this a slightly different way. Have a look at the video and ask yourself the following:
- What were the most engaging jobs you’ve ever had (or seen others have) and why?
- How did those jobs fit against the broader ideals of Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose?
- If you could ignore money and pursue a career based entirely on these ideals, what career would you pursue? and
- How much money would be enough for you to choose to pursue that career instead of the one you have now?
The Mashy PM 