Why Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose Isn’t Enough

Or stuck in the oil! Thanks Trish. I don’t want this to be an indictment of AMP – just that it isn’t a panacea – as the video illustrates. It takes something more than that to start a change. AMP may help with the long-term vision quest – and provide the foundation for change – but alone it doesn’t do the trick. Thanks for stopping by!

You are so right on the money Fran. I’ve discussed it before – we have a thing called “temporal discounting” meaning we devalue both incentives and punishments if they are in the future. With energy – big issue. Other places – I’m sure you’re aware – health and wellness. Because the benefits (no matter how large) are in the future – sometimes far into the future – the value of those benefits is discounted.

Thanks Derek. I just left a comment on Tim’s post – options require me to have cash to invest in them when they come due – unfortunately for many work-a-day folks that isn’t an option so while the option sounds interesting – if my base compensation isn’t high enough to allow me to save for the potential exercise date then they are worthless from the beginning.
My point today was that all the promises and the vision in the world don’t break behavioral inertia – and when the payoff is so far into the future – it is even worse.
Incentives done correctly can break the inertia WITHOUT damaging the link to purpose as some have indicated.

This post is absolutely right – “in a day-to-day business world it may not be effective.”
Pink’s notions are not a ‘new’ paradigm at all. Pink’s book is a basically a re-packaging of Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs. The key thing that glosses over (though he does mention it) is the ‘Hierarchy’ part. People get to the ‘Vision’ level only after the lower more basic needs have been satisfied. This is a fundamental premise of Maslov and Pink himself acknowledges it. Unfortunately, the self-indulged Western society has gotten used to a pretty high level of consumption of the very lowest level ‘Physiological Needs’ before it even begins to consider the other 3 levels before getting to Self-Actualisation. Not everybody mind you. Many people who love Pink are the ones who (a) do have lower aspirations and needs in the lower hierarchies, and (b) are frankly quite well off so. I bet the average reader/fan of Drive is in the upper quartile of income.
In fact, Pink’s ‘paradigm’ is a microcosmic subset of so many problems around us. He is espousing a short-cut solution. He is saying ‘forget all those other levels in the hierarchy…just go straight to the top one.’ People love it. A short cut. Fantastic. (Or handy if you are rich enough to be past all those other levels). Just like an easy mortgage is a short cut to a bigger car and an HD TV. Just like skimping on safety measures is a short cut to adding profit. Hopefully, events like these will be wake up calls to the charlatans who espouse that tight loan provisions, strict safety adherence, and basic monetary incentives are not quite so ‘plebian’. Doubling the price of gasoline would have more impact in 20 days than all the ‘Vision’ has had in 20 years.

Thanks Bruce – appreciate the thoughts. I do think that Pink is taking us up the hierarchy – but I don’t think Maslow is a good motivation theory either. Maslow has never been tested empirically and he himself said it was an idea looking for proof. None of which has happened.
Most psych folks think it is an interesting idea but don’t hold it in high regard as a valid motivational theory. I posted on it here: http://incentive-intelligence.typepad.com/incentive_intelligence/2009/02/if-your-incentive-company-brings-up-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-fire-them.html
Your last sentence says it all IMHO.

I think you need to reread the post. My point was that ALL OF US have the ability to impact the problem but don’t. It isn’t about the President having autonomy… it’s about each of us having the autonomy to attack the problem. But we don’t. The point is that each of us have the ability to attack the problem and don’t. It’s not about what the President can do but about what each of us can.
It is not the role of the President to DO these things…. than unfortunately is the reason we’re in the mess we’re in – we think they have the power to do them. It is the Presidents job to set the goal – and let US do these things. My point is that the three keys outlined by Dan Pink – don’t motivate us to do the things we think are right.