The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

by Joe Stampone on June 14, 2010

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MIT conducted a study about what actually motivates us which yielded some fascinating results. For simple tasks that only involve mechanical skill money is a motivator, however for jobs that called for even rudimentary cognitive skill, autonomy, mastery and purpose are what matters.

The best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough so they’re not thinking about money, they’re thinking about the work. Once you do that there are 3 factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction:

Autonomy – The desire to be self-directed.

Mastery – The urge to get better at stuff.

Purpose -The desire to make a contribution.

When the profit motive becomes un-moored from the purpose motive, bad things happen. Companies that are flourishing are animated by this purpose.  For example the founder of Skype says their goal is to be disruptive, but in the cause of making the world a better place. This is the kind of thing that may get you up in the morning and running to work.  We are purpose maximizers, not only profit maximizers.

Watch the following presentation by Dan Pink, it’ll make you think, not to mention RSA Animate is really cool:

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What do you think?

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  • http://twitter.com/EricAmzalag Eric Amzalag

    Ditto on the cool animations.

    In my humble opinion, people desire legacy over wealth. If they can both be done simultaneously, all the more success to them. I think this is evident in a lot of non-profit and religious institutions. Why do people become Pastors, Ministers, Rabbis, Imams? I'm sure they would never say no to a pay raise, but generally they have decided on their life path before they determine their present or future salaries… They have a meaningful impact on many peoples lives and lead satisfied lives as a result.

    We can just as easily transfer this concept to the High Tech Startup world. Many founders dive head first into a company because they are convicted with the impact their “device” or “product” can have. Yes the hope to generate wealth is there, but they always know the probability that they will be the next google is slim. Yet that does not deter amazingly brilliant and talented individuals from working like a dog for next to nothing for years of their lives. It is also stunning to see the amount of talent that is pulled into these startups that cannot pay nearly as much as large corporation, nor offer benefits, yet they offer that opportunity to truly do something meaningful and have an impact.

  • http://www.astudentoftherealestategame.com/ Joe Stampone

    Agreed.