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This video
posits some interesting views about motivation that I think challenges my
perception about what motivates people. In secondary school, my teachers used
to “encourage” class participation and affirm individual effort by rewarding us
with a plethora of different candies. Some even went to the extent of “bribing”
the class with MacDonald meals.
The video
summarizes studies done in MIT and by other institutions and professionals and debunks
the myth of the effectiveness of traditional management tactics, which involves
rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior. It describes a social
experiment done by MIT, where individuals were given different amounts of
monetary rewards for their ability to accomplish low to high conceptual
thinking tasks. The result of which is summed up in this sentence: “Once you
get above rudimentary cognitive skill, rewards don’t work that way (produce
better results)”. Studies quoted by the video states that the research done in
America and in countries, such as India, shows a strange similarities. The people
receiving the medium (monetary) reward did no better than those who received
low rewards. Higher incentives actually led to worse performance. All in all,
the “dangling of the carrot” approach worked for simple, straightforward,
algorithmic tasks. But when accomplishing tasks that required conceptual,
creative thinking, monetary motivators did not work, thus proving that money is
not the single most important motivator for effectiveness at the workplace.
The video
then suggests 3 factors that will help motivate individuals to achieve better
results at work, in terms of their performance and personal sense of
satisfaction. The three factors are as follows:
Research shows that self –directedness results in deeper engagement in the workforce, which produces better results than what traditional human resource management can accomplish. In the software company, Atlassian, employees are given a certain time every week to work on whatever they wanted, with whoever they wanted. After which they had to share the ideas they came up with at a fun meeting. The pure, undiluted autonomy given to the employees of this company resulted in more new product ideas and software fixes than could ever be imagined in the stifling work cubicles.
Humans have the urge to
get better at stuff through practice. It is highly irrational that people spend
their work-free weekends practicing musical instruments which do not add to
their income. However, people are willing to do it because it is fun and
satisfying to them. The video lists out several business who started by people
who were willing to do things for free, putting their high level thinking
skills to produce services and products that will earn them nothing. The narrator
discusses how this strange economic behavior exemplifies how the desire for
mastery is part of human desire. When profit motive gets unmoored from the
purpose motive (desire for mastery) then the workplace become uninspiring –
producing bad services, lame products and may even cause people to do morally
compromising things. On the other hand, successful companies are animated by
purpose; individuals who are adequately challenged by a desire for mastery.
Implications for the Classroom:
- Self-directedness as an essential skill developed in the classroom.
- Students need to find their purpose and meaning in what they do in class, with the help of the teacher.
- Students can and desire to master content knowledge and skills, but how to help them to achieve mastery? By understanding how educational techniques and issues of psychology such as Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development is integral to the processes of mastery.
- If money is not the most important motivating factor in the workplace, and superficial rewards like sweets in the classroom, then what alternative forms of reward and affirmation should be used to encourage students to learn? Note to self: food for thought.
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