Sansation

Let’s start by defining what intrinsic motivation is. Intrinsic motivation is when people engage in an activity wholeheartedly as a result of finding the activity interesting and enjoying in itself. The outcomes of this is the experience of spontaneous satisfaction and an increase in energy towards the task. Doing activities which we derive intrinsic satisfaction from provides us with a major energy boost. And this is why understanding intrinsic motivation is central to our purposes here at the Energy Impact Lab.

However, how realistic is the utopian ideal of providing a workplace where all employees are intrinsically motivated 100% of the time… the fact is not all activities which we undertake at work are intrinsically satisfying, no matter how we reappraise them. To most, for example, filing or accounting is a necessary evil of the workday. However what differentiates between the person who is filing because they are fearful that their manager will reprimand them, to someone who chooses to stay on top of their filing by allocating a set time every day knowing that by doing so allows them to be more effective at their job, is the level of autonomy which is experienced in each case. What this means is that extrinsically motivated activities can vary in level of controlled or autonomous experience. Rather than a black and white extrinsic/intrinsic dichotomy to define a task or activity, the level of controlled or autonomous experience while doing the task presents a greyscale approach. This model is at the heart of Self-Determination Theory (Gagne & Deci, 2005)

The goal therefore is to increase autonomous (self-directed) motivation towards activities in order to increase the likelihood of intrinsic motivation or internalisation of the activity. Ways to do this are by firstly (1) limiting the environmental factors which have been empirically demonstrated to undermine intrinsic motivation, and in turn (2) create an autonomy supportive environment:

1. Things which undermine intrinsic motivation:
- performance-based monetary rewards
- employee surveillance
- threat inducing activities such as a looming performance evaluation
- external contingencies such as deadlines, pressure or threat of punishment
- a culture of enforcement and control

2. Create an autonomy supportive environment:
- encourage employee participation
- acknowledge employee’s feelings when the activities are not particularly interesting
- provide meaningful rationale as to why it is important to do the activity
- keep employees well informed
- provide people with the opportunity to make their own decisions
- provide employees with challenges where they can learn new skills and demonstrate competence
- encourage an environment where relationships can strengthen, so that there is support, encouragement, team play and of course having fun!

Why is autonomous motivation so important? It is has been found to be positively related to vitality and wellbeing (Reis et al., 2000), persistence (Williams, Deci & Ryan, 1998), work engagement (Baard et al., 2004; Deci et al., 2001), work performance (Ilardi, Leone, Kasser & Ryan, 1993) trust in leadership (Deci et al., 1989) reduced turnover (Black & Deci, 2000), and acceptance to organisational change (Gagne, Koestner & Zuckerman, 2000) just to name a few. Perhaps you have some of your own examples of where an autonomy supportive environment has positively affected your own work performance?

Focusing solely on intrinsic motivation has the potential to be limiting and unrealistic when it comes to application to business. However, understanding the benefits of increasing autonomous motivation is more practical and within reach for all.

What can I say I like to play with words. New fields may be a stretch but from a corporate perspective talking about Energy has only recently become accepted. 10 years ago I recall meeting where I mentioned Energy and had those in the room looking at me like I was from another country. We all understand Energy and yet from some strange objective perspective it was not seen as tangible rather Eastern and esoteric. Over the last few weeks, a number of big weeks the group has begun to make real head way with our research into Energy & Impact. Add to this the many meetings with clients and you could say we are alive a kicking. Thriving in a new field that is actually old. Older than most known ideals. In the corporate space though it is new. It’s fresh and with out wanting to be involved in a fashion this work we are undertaking is baring fruit. It is open peoples eye’s and minds to a whole World of possibilities. Our approach has been reasonably systematic. The cycle of creative ideas leading to internal conversations which have feed the ideas further. Take this to external conversations and challenges which have acted to fuel the form of Energy Impact. The cycle has repeated many times with much dialogue within, between and with those around us. It has been a testing and adaptation process and one that will remain part of our business always. The times ahead are exciting and as I personally prepare to reconnect with the team after a week on program in Mt Eliza I am keen to see the next steps we can take to bring this idea to life.

The last week has created some great opportunities to connect with people and organisations. A few key people have been great at providing advice and guidance in developing the Energy Impact concept. Some great linkages are being made with people in the field of neuroscience and the relationship between what we are working on measuring and cognitive capacities, limitations and possibilities. This journey we have started by coming together as a group has already proved fascinating and rewarding. In the coming months as our business grows it will be interesting to keep joining the dots between much of our work as consultants over the years to the new found focus and how it will enable us to take our our learning to new levels.

Last week I meet with the team at Cogstate and enjoyed the insights they provided. Also during the week we did a brainstorming session with a business development leader and again the insights we amazing. Currently I am motivated to keep unearth these connections and finding application in our concept and how it can be applied across a wider network.

As a team we are going through all the same things any team must go through. And during a 12hr planning session last Tue we had to keep reminding ourselves about living the principles of the work we do with clients. It’s life, art, work, theory, application, reality, experience, concepts and action all ways changing and shifting. We feel like we are part of our own big experiment. Tasting, testing and ultimately trusting the unfolding experiences and moments we are making happen.

Partnership is critically important within our team and with all those we are fortunate to be engaging with. The future looks bright but we remind ourselves to bring our energy into action. Here’s to another week ahead and many more.

Hi guys, I was having a chat this morning with a colleague about people’s attitude to risk. It’s interesting how some people are very happy to accept risk and others aren’t… like the engineers we discussed last week with Peter. The QO2 tool that I have in my psychometric inventory measures people’s attitude to risk and could be a useful component in our work with certain industry sectors. What do you think?