I just came across a neat video that goes against the standard notion of behavioral psychology. You would think that bonuses and rewards lead to better performance, but countless studies in recent years have shown that larger bonuses result in lower levels of performance and worse results.
What gives?
People are not motivated like we think they are. Many times, people do things because there are other factors other than money involved. Why do we practice an instrument, or why do we have hobbies? We don’t make money off our hobbies, but what we do get is a sense of mastery and autonomy. We feel like we are in control of our lives.
Maybe this is why I am an entrepreneur. I am in complete control of my company (unfortunately it never seems like I am in complete control of my life though). Although I am motivated by financial reward in building my business, it is by no means a priority of mine. Maybe that’s why I only have a $24,000 salary – the lowest in the company! Interns even make more money than I do. But what I have is autonomy. I have the desire to create something of purpose and meaning.
Understanding what motivates people is a great way to understand how to manage people. As Sand Shack grows and expands we are hiring more people. As we do so, I look to create a company that motivates people in the most creative and unique ways possible without compromising company performance. One of the things that I have implemented is a “vacation when you need it” policy. I believe that people who work for you should want to work for you, and they should enjoy their job. If they need vacation, they need vacation. But by not setting limitations on a persons freedom a person has a greater degree of autonomy, which leads to a greater degree of motivation, which leads to greater levels of performance.
Cool huh?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
What a great video! What other types of Autonomy, Mastery, and purpose have you implemented or plan on implementing? Have you seen positive results with your ‘take vacation when you need it’ policy? Any abusers?
Scott, basically I like to be hands off as much as possible but always know what is going on. People are free to tackle projects and problems on their own, but I always know about the big picture of things. It helps keep direction while enabling freedom. I don’t think it has been around long enough to really tell for sure, but the vacation policy works great because people take less vacation than they would if they had a set amount of days.
Great topic. It’s for that exact reason that I chose to keep the art that I make for myself and not try to sell it. As soon as I had a gallery asking me for work and deadlines, it became less fun and I was less inspired. You did a much better job at summarizing the topic. I should forward people to this page whenever I’m asked if I sell my work.