motivation

Carrots, Sticks, and the Paradoxes of Motivation

Merlin Mann — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:27:14 -0400

Shankar Vedantam - When Play Becomes Work - washingtonpost.com

Shankar Vedantam discusses research on motivation which points to the schizophrenic role that rewards can play in our perception of a task.

A host of experiments have shown that when threats and rewards enter the picture, they tend to destroy the inner drives. Paychecks and pink slips might be powerful reasons to get out of bed each day, but they turn out to be surprisingly ineffective — and even counterproductive — in getting people to perform at their best.

Add the right incentive, and you can encourage better output; add the wrong incentive and you risk removing the natural motivation people feel to do something for the intrinsic value they get out of it.

External rewards and punishments are counterproductive when it comes to activities that are meaningful — tasks that telegraph something about a person’s intellectual abilities, generosity, courage or values. People will voluntarily perform intellectually arduous work, for example, because it gives them pleasure to solve a puzzle or win a game of wits.

“If I pay my kids to do their homework, I am saying, ‘You will get this if you do your homework,’ but I am also saying, ‘Homework is not likely to have intrinsic rewards,’ ” Benabou said.

One wild card I see in this deck is the role of leadership — or better put: charisma. I’ve done ridiculous things for people I love and respect but can’t be bothered to even feign attention for people who don’t inspire me (it’s why you don’t want me as an employee unless you’re crazy-smart). Something about a good leader motivates people to do things they never would have thought possible (even when it’s not always in their best interest).

I also wonder about how this differs with personality types and class. I’ve known of some unbelievably wealthy people who have no financial need to ever work another day in their life. But, they’re also some of the most motivated, productive, and sometimes, voraciously workaholic people I’ve ever heard of. Whether or not it’s healthy or sustainable, something clearly drives them to keep building and growing.

”Carrots, Sticks, and the Paradoxes of Motivation” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on July 28, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Self-control running low?

grant — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:45:16 -0400

Why is it so hard to say no? Why the heck do I find myself doing things I don't really want to do?

In the newsroom where I ostensibly work, I sit right next to that table - the one the people from other publications call "the table of perpetual indulgence." It usually features baked goods and junk food - great vats of candy, tubs of animal crackers, a living sea of bite-sized 3 Musketeers and Special Dark bars. It is, put simply, bad for me to be sitting here. I'm always walking off to the printer then realizing that somehow I've wound up in the opposite direction, lifting syrup-filled brownies toward my mouth. Well, I think I just found out the reason why.

Canadian researchers Michael Inzlicht and Jennifer N. Gutsell recently published a study about self-control in the journal Psychological Science. They hooked 40 people up to EEGs and had them watch animal snuff films - "a disturbing wildlife documentary" is how that summary puts it. Half of them were asked not to show any emotion, while the other half weren't given any instructions. They just had to watch.

Then, both groups were given a fast-paced color-matching test - one that depended on a certain level of willpower to complete. The emotionally suppressed group flunked. Whatever kind of fuel willpower burns, they'd run out of it.

The researchers conclude: "People have a limited amount of self-control, and tasks requiring controlled, willful action quickly deplete this central resource. Exerting self-control on one task impairs performance on subsequent tasks requiring the same resource."

So if I want to get anything done, I'd better marshal my reserves carefully. There's a more cheerful note, however. You can get more self-control by practicing, and by thinking things through.

As summarized in that article....

Quote:

Though we have a shallow and finite reserve of willpower, self-control can improve over time, much like a muscle can be trained. The trick is knowing how to train your will. Simply slowing down and thinking clearly about an impulse (rather than reflexively giving in or denying it) can build self-control, says Inzlicht.

Setting specific self-control goals also works the control muscle.

Small goals, I guess. I suppose even reading these words right here is a step in the right direction.

If you've got academic access, here's the full text of the study "Running on Empty: Neural Signals for Self-Control Failure".

”Self-control running low?” was written by grant balfour for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on March 12, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Motivate yourself with "loss aversion"

Merlin Mann — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:28:11 -0500

NPR: Put Your Money Where Your Girth Is

I really enjoyed this Morning Edition story on “Prospect Theory,” or the idea that loss aversion can be an effective motivator in goals related to health improvement like weight loss and smoking cessation:

“What we know about incentives is that people work a lot harder to avoid losing $10 than they will work to gain $10,” explains Ayres. “So something that’s framed as a loss is really effective at changing behavior.”

Related to that question I was asked at Macworld: I wonder if a gym membership might be even more motivating if you received a daily email updating you on the wasted dollars you’d spent by not working out in the last n days.

When I started paying most of my own college tuition, I remember realizing that every class I skipped was equivalent to throwing away about a day and a half of the money I’d earned from waiting on tables. It was very motivating for me, and I started missing a lot fewer classes as a result.

”Motivate yourself with "loss aversion"” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on March 06, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2008 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"