El fantasma de la máquina (Y cómo está cambiando la forma en que hacemos negocios)

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Last week, I mentioned rewards can sometimes be detrimental to business, and this required another whole article to really get to the bottom of. I was specifically referring to tangible, material rewards and incentives, like money or “things”, that we get as a result of reaching a set goal. They can and do work very well for some people, but not everyone, and not always, and research has shown that they can actually be detrimental to your business.

We’re going to look more at this because the “why” of this topic encompasses our creativity, and creativity is also one of the key elements of the alternative paradigm that’s emerging in the business world as a result of recognizing there is a ghost in the machine (I’m using that phrase out of its traditional context, but I love it and fits perfectly with what I’m talking about, as you shall see).

For the next few paragraphs, we’re drawing from Daniel H. Pink’s research in his latest book, “Drive”. So, how can getting financial rewards or material incentives for working harder, smarter, faster and better possibly be detrimental to our business? Dan Pink says there are seven fatal flaws in this way of working. Material rewards and incentives can:

extinguish intrinsic motivationdiminish performancecrush creativitycrowd out good behaviorencourage cheatingbecome addictivefoster short term thinking

If these are some of the issues we face within our own business, this way of working is not going to be the most sustainable or effective way to run our business.

This article would blow out to several thousand words if I went deeply into the seven fatal flaws Dan Pink has outlined. For the sake of brevity, it really comes down to recognizing that we are not always motivated by “carrots and sticks”. (Which is Dan’s way of referring to rewards and punishments).

The issue is: people are not that easy to figure out even though we like to think so sometimes. We’re not so predictable that we’re only interested in getting some form of material gain or benefit. Most annoyingly for this reward/punishment business model, is that we are the ghost in the machine – humans, with our inexplicable quirks and kinks in our behavior.

Sometimes we will be motivated by external rewards and punishments, but increasingly in the world today, we’re veering off on tangents that totally contradict the assumption that we’re only in it for the money. The rise of open source projects is a perfect example of this. Studies have shown that people who give freely of their time and expertise to open source projects often do so because of the freedom, autonomy, and potential for greater creative expression in these projects, and because they’re fun!

Ha! There it is, popping up once again! That niggling “thing” about freedom, autonomy and creativity. It throws a big spanner in the works of solely relying on rewards and punishment to motivate people. The reason we are the ghosts in the machine is that our three greatest motivators are autonomy, mastery and purpose. These are motivational forces from within, and they don’t go away. That’s why they keep popping up, and that’s why we go off on tangents that are not motivated by material rewards.

Autonomy, by definition is not something that can be controlled from the outside by another person, so it’s beyond the scope of external reward or punishment.

External motivation can and does work very well until our physical needs are met so we can live comfortably, but beyond that, Pink says we “have an innate drive to be autonomous, self determined and connected to one and other. When this drive is liberated, people achieve more and lead richer lives.” Numerous studies have shown that when our innate psychological needs are met, we are motivated, productive and feel happy with the way our life is going.

So how is this connected to our creativity, and how does it relate to the successful running of our business?

Let’s start with creativity and look at the essential need to feel autonomous, self determining and connected to one another. We’ve already learned in previous articles that creativity only exists significantly when we feel autonomous and self-directing. What’s creativity got to do with helping us feel connected to one and other?

You guessed it, creativity plays a crucial role in this game.  Our creativity puts us in sync with others, it allows us to tap into common emotions and thoughts and share them. The way we connect with people who share common interests, whether it’s movies, music, technology, entrepreneurship, sport, fashion or business is an example of how various forms of creative expression accomplishes this.

Creative expression facilitates our connection with others. So if we have the opportunity to access and express our creativity in our work/business, it will actually assist us in satisfying our need to feel connected to others.  And remember, when these needs are met, we are motivated, productive and happy.

The relationship between being creative in our lives and feeling sustained motivation to produce excellent results in our work doesn’t end there. Sir Ken Robinson is a world authority on creativity. I can’t actually believe he hasn’t made it into one of my earlier posts. Pink & Brown have been hogging the lime light!

Sir Ken says the following about the creative process:

creativity has outcomes that have valuecreativity impacts the public worldcreativity is communicated through some medium to our sensescreativity is not a purely personal process, it often draws from the ideas and stimulation of other people

The first two statements reflect obvious benefits of creativity within a business environment.

The last two correspond with this need to interact with and relate to others. Creativity is a form of communication, and it has to involve others to have an impact in the public world. Once again we see how creativity assists us in fulfilling our innate psychological need for connection and relatedness. As previously mentioned, when these needs are met, they induce greater motivation, production and wellbeing.

What is this new paradigm that’s infiltrating the business world, and how can it be implemented in our business?

The new paradigm acknowledges that we are not purely motivated by external rewards and punishment. The new operating system for business observes that if we are paid enough to feel adequately valued for our contribution, and certain psychological needs are met, then we are driven to produce excellent results and we are capable of being self-motivated from within.

As far as implementing this in our own business is concerned, Dan Pink says you need to pay yourself and others enough to take the issue of money off the table. That’s the first step. Beyond that, we need to look at ways our work can meet these psychological needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness in order for us to be intrinsically motivated, productive and happy.

Competence and autonomy means allowing ourselves and our staff to master their craft, for example:

Making space for individuals to learn, improvise, develop and test their own ways of producing results.Working in a way that gives us some autonomy and allows us to express our creativity/unique style of doing things.

This gives us a sense of our own mastery, competence and purpose within the organization and our own lives. The outcome is an individual who is motivated from within to produce great results, and will continue to do so because it is fulfilling two of these innate psychological needs.

Relatedness comes into play when our work allows us to connect with others in a way that feels meaningful. That means you are able to share your work experiences with people who “get” it. You can share your accomplishments, failures, creations and insights with others, and both parties can relate to the subject matter.

I know not many employers love the idea of facebook in the workplace, most organizations I know don’t allow employees access to it at work. One of the massive factors of facebook and twitter success is, they fulfil one of our essential psychological needs, being connected and relating to others. That’s why we can spend so much time on them. If we were able to fulfil this need in our work, there wouldn’t be a need to spend as much time doing so elsewhere

In a previous article, I mentioned the company, Atlassian, had taken on 20% time. This is one way to focus on the intrinsic motivational approach (autonomy, mastery & purpose) over the extrinsic motivational approach, (external reward and punishment). In regard to staff performing better as a result, Mike Cannon-Brookes says, “people are way more efficient about 20% time than regular work time.” They have no problem with staff reading newsfeeds or facebook, because their needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness are already met through their work.

Remember that we use our creativity as a way to connect with and relate to others, so wherever you are most at ease and in your element is where you will connect most easily with others, who “get” it. For some this may be through sport & physical activity, others it may be through business, finance, fashion, food, the list is endless. Ideally our creativity can be reflected in our work, or at least be given some space within our work place so that we can use it as a vehicle for connecting and communicating with others.

Yikes, this post has gone waaaaay over the length limit I find comfortable, and still hasn’t included many of the aspects I’d like to add. I’m going to have to stop here.

In finishing, there is a new paradigm emerging as a powerful operating system in business. The new operating system observes that:

If we are paid enough to feel adequately valued for our contributionAnd our work meets some of our key psychological needs outlined previously

Then the results are:

We are driven to consistently produce excellent resultsWe are capable of being self-motivated from withinCreativity and innovation in the workplace flourishesStaff experience greater job satisfaction and businesses have less staff turnover

Even though it’s very early days in the application of this operating system, the businesses who have incorporated it would never consider going back to the external reward style of management. So, if you have some ghosts in your machine, perhaps it’s time to trial some aspects of this new paradigm and see if the ghosts start to behave better

I’d love to hear any comments you have supporting, challenging or even contemplating the ideas in this post. Thanks for reading, and here’s to your creative success.

Neroli Makim

P.S. For anyone interested in coming to a presentation on the hows, whys and wonders of creativity, last chance to book in for the Women’s Publishing Network on the 18th of February. Come along for some amazing information and heaps of fun!

Neroli Makim is an internationally acclaimed artist, author and speaker on Creativity and its relationship to personal fulfillment and professional success. She educates people about Creativity, what it is, why it’s important and how to access it within themselves. For more information, visit http://www.yourcreativesuccess.com/.