Does your motivation come from someone else? Do you depend on others to supply your motivations?
Yesterday’s news du jour was the alarming story about the high school teacher whose personal blog containing a few complaints about today’s students led to her suspension. The following statement by an ex-student of hers caught my attention. The student agreed that the teacher’s overall comments were generally true but added, “It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."
Huh? Is motivation something you inject into people like gasoline? Is motivation an externally-imposed energy source that an outside party must provide to you? Or is that line of thought just another excuse of entitlement-minded people who seem to accept responsibility for nothing but their rights and privileges?
Seems like almost every day brings another story of an unfortunate millionaire plagued with issues not of his or her own making. It is never their fault. The pitiable tales always seem to be expressed in admiring terms suitably reflective of the party’s victimization status. “They fight addiction.” (They’re a cokehead.) “They struggle with family issues.” (They cheat shamelessly on their spouse.) “They fight a disorder.” (They shoplift for amusement.) They battle anger management issues.” (They beat their children.) Every sympathetic statement is in the passive mode, showing that things are done to them. “They were devastated by financial disasters.” (They blew $25,000,000.) They are neither actors in charge of their personal destinies nor agents who initiate their own choices but simply innocent pawns manipulated by whatever forces are imposed on them. Something else forced them to a course of action. Someone else is responsible for their behavior. Does anyone else hear the faint echo of Flip Wilson’s immortal phrase, “The Devil made me do it!”?
Oh, please. Give me a break.
Granted, it has been many a decade since I took a psychology course, but that unfortunately prevailing attitude seems to fly in the face of every precept I ever learned or taught about the nature of human behavior. This is quite disturbing on a number of levels. People actually believe this. Prominent personalities present the entitlement philosophy as an established fact. It is so universally accepted as to be unworthy of comment. Folks enter our work force after an entire lifetime of immersion in the pernicious concept that one need accept no responsibility for your own actions. You don’t make choices; you only respond to stimuli. If your performance is defective, it is someone else’s problem because “they” are responsible for your behavior, not you. But who is they? It is us, right here.
Motivation is a lot to ask from a mere compensation program founded on principles that assume facts no longer found in real life. With employees who think like this, those in our trade are assured of lifetime job security, because challenges will abound.
My life needs seasoning. Will someone pass the motivation, please?
E. James (Jim) Brennan is Senior Associate of ERI Economic Research Institute, the premier publisher of interactive pay and living-cost surveys. Semi-retired after over 40 years in HR corporate and consulting roles throughout the U.S. and Canada, he’s pretty much been there done that (articles,
books, speeches, seminars, radio/TV, advisory posts, in-trial expert witness stuff, etc.) and will express his opinion on almost anything.
Image: Creative Commons Photo "Motivation" by Nono Fara
More people should read this post Jim. You have to motivate employees the best you can but in the end, it'll be up to them to decide to perform. Accountability is a lost art sometimes
Posted by: Drew Hawkins | 02/21/2011 at 09:28 AM
It was all said long ago in the Harvard Law of Behavior created by B. F. Skinner's grad students: "Under carefully controlled laboratory conditions where all outside influences are monitored and fully controlled, the experimental subject will do as it damn well pleases."
Posted by: E. James (Jim) Brennan | 02/21/2011 at 10:43 AM
This post doesn't disappoint! There are factors and behaviors that suck the life out of motivation but no one 'owns' it but you.
Posted by: Laura Schroeder | 02/23/2011 at 03:18 AM
None the less, compensation programs can have a motivational or demotivational impact on employees. The examples you point to - none of which I take exception to - are all outside the workplace. Yes, we have much more personal responsibility for our life destiny. But a teacher CAN motivate or demotivate. It may not be their (only) responsibility, but they can do it. Just as a parent, or a peer, or a mentor can. The question for a compensation scheme, in my mind, is not whether it should motivate; but rather, whether it can.
Posted by: Charlie Judy | 02/23/2011 at 08:18 AM
Agreed, mostly; but we can't MAKE someone care. All we can do is efficiently tailor our inducements to the motivations of our people. We dangle what we hope are attractive goodies, but they pick and choose, based on their own motivations. Our corporate maternity care coverage does not inspire me due to my age and sex, but other elements of our total reward package are quite attractive to me. Rewards and punishments are essentially subjective.
Posted by: E James (Jim) Brennan | 02/23/2011 at 10:29 AM