Motivation: What makes you do your best?

The Team That Didn't Seem To Care

The 2011-2012 NBA season was a roller-coaster ride for Portland fans.  If you follow pro sports, you may remember that it was a short season because of labor disputes. When the contracts were finally signed, the Blazers were ready to play.  They started the season by winning 7 of 9. Among us fans, there were excited conversations about the post season.  Playing in the conference championship seemed plausible. The team was oozing talent and had enthusiasm for the game.

But somewhere around the All Star break, the wheels fell off the bandwagon. Suddenly we couldn't win a game.  When the season ended, the Blazers were 11th in the West.

The Role of the Coach

There was a lot of finger pointing in the Portland media.  Nate McMillan, who had been the coach for four or five years at that point, knew that he was on notice.The consensus among radio show hosts and fans alike, was that Coach Nate wasn't motivating the players.

That seemed about right, but then I read this editorial piece in the Oregonian. (Note that Coach Nate had played in the NBA before his career as a coach.)


Before Saturday's game, McMillan talked about the variety of ways in which he's trying to motivate his players. He's used video. He's yelled at them. He's practiced them, and given them extended rest. "Every day," he said, "you've got to think about what you need to do to get them ready and motivated."
Did McMillan need all that as a player himself?
"When I came in the locker room, I was motivated."

It's interesting that the man who is tasked with motivating a highly-skilled, highly-paid group of athletes, never needed anyone to motivate him. After reading this, I wondered if it is really the coach's job to motivate.


Personal Motivation

I thought about my own motivation.  There have been times when I was focused and put everything I had into a project.  There have been other times when I couldn't stay on task for more than a few minutes and avoided work. Was my manager influential at either of these times? Absolutely not. So what was it?



Money as a Motivator

What motivates us? In the workplace, the answer is often "money." But is that the right answer?  In his excellent book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Dan Pink makes a convincing argument that "sticks and carrots" like bonuses and raises are outmoded motivators and relics of the industrial age.  I agree with him.

In Office Space, the comic masterpiece about the mundanity of corporate life, Peter, the slacker protagonist opines to the Bobs that he's not motivated because his compensation isn't tied to performance.  (You can see the clip here.  There's a Maturity warning, but the clip is PG at most.)

"You see, Bob, It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I don't care. It's a problem of motivation, alright? Now if I work my ___ off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime. So where's the motivation?"

This is a pretty common view, but I'd argue that it's not really the core of Peter's problem. If his pay structure was changed so that he was paid for each unit shipped, he might work really hard for a short while.  But eventually, if he didn't find some intrinsic motivation in his work, he would slip back into doing the minimum; whether it be the minimum to not get fired, or the minimum to pay for his basic expenses.

Going back to the NBA as an example, when a professional athlete is playing poorly, it's common to hear spectators comment about the ridiculous wages that the players are being paid, and that it's STILL not enough.  But put yourself in the enormous shoes of the player on the court. Imagine that you're getting paid millions. You've got enough in the bank to retire lavishly.  At the moment, you're getting beat at home and none of your shots are going in. If your coach were to call a time-out and offer to pay you another $1 million if you can win the game, would it make any difference? Would the promise of some extra cash help you figure out how to get around the defense? I doubt it.

How did that work for the Dallas Cowboys with Tony Romo? He wasn't playing up to expectations, so they gave him an amazing raise to motivate him to play better.  Surprise! The Cowboys ended the season .500, and didn't make the playoffs. They couldn't buy his leadership.

Does money motivate?  In some ways, yes. In some ways, no. For me, money is a toggle switch.  My employer (or customer) has to pay enough for me to sign up.  Once I'm there, however, a little more money doesn't mean a little better quality.

So what does motivate? Ownership? Success? Making the world a better place? Competition? I'm sure that different people would answer those questions differently.

So what?

Motivation has a different meaning for individuals than it does for leaders.

Individuals: If you can't motivate yourself to do your best, maybe you need to change to a different project.  Ask why you can't get motivated.  What would inspire you to do your best work?  What projects in the past yielded your best work? What were the circumstances? I've written before about my past jobs.  I had a great gig with Tektronix. The money was great and the hours were short. But I couldn't bring myself to really care about doing my best.  That was one of the main reasons I left.

Managers: This is one of the reasons that it's crucial to hire right people.  If your employees aren't motivated, there might not be a lot that you can do. When recruiting, ask people what motivates them. Ask about times in the past when they were motivated. Don't hire a person until you are confident that he or she will be able to thrive in your environment.  At the same time, be willing to change the work environment to provide the intrinsic rewards that will inspire your group.  Try to appeal to different motivation engines.
Autonomy, opportunities for advancement, flexible hours, projects that use a person's strengths, constructive feedback, recognition, and control over one's own career are some of the things to try.

What do you think?
Does this match your own personal experience?  I've written about myself, some of my friends, what I've read, and what I've observed.  I realize that this is a pretty limited sample size.  I'm interested to hear about your own motivation. What motivates you? When has a manager tried and failed to motivate you? When was he or she successful?