What really makes us work?
Tips Motivation / / December 19, 2019
For which people are working? If you do not take into account the basic biological needs that support our livelihoods, and we support with money (eat well for what it is necessary?), things are much more complicated than simply the desire to earn as much as possible more money.
Many managers believe that the main motivation - is cash bonuses and promotions on the career ladder. On the one hand, this is really the main reasons why people go to work (sometimes not so favorite) every day. On the other hand, also need an incentive for these cakes. So what exactly motivates us when we wake up and start to work?
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Walter Chen, creator IDoneThis, decided to dig deeper and look into the matter. As I wrote, the majority of employers believe that the main incentive for their employees - this is cash bonuses and promotions on the career ladder. But... But if it were that simple, people would not have been dismissed from high positions with a tidy income and would not settle somewhere in the islands diving instructor. Not money one man alive.
Money or the carrot?
An experiment was conducted, during which the participants were divided into two groups A and B and assigned to assemble complex puzzles. On the first day of Group A promised monetary compensation, and group B did not promise anything, but simply asked to collect puzzle. Of course, in this day, group A worked harder group B. But the next day the participants of the first group reported that this time they will not be paid. What do you think which group this time worked better? After the people were told that today they do not pay, they immediately lose interest in the lesson, but in the second group, whose members have not promised any monetary reward, the process went very rapidly and successfully. Why? And then what they were interested and they decided to finish the job, what would it it is not worth it. That is money in this case turned out to be very weak motivator.
3 main reasons
The main motor that moves us - it is our emotions. If we get on what we do, emotional satisfaction, we will work for much longer and more productive than monetary rewards. What most people are interested in the long term and not for the sake of a quick profit? It turns out the basis for all this is the three simple things.
Autonomy. We like to control their lives. Like the understanding that once we decide in which direction and at what speed we move and when to stop.
Skill. Our desire to hone existing skills and acquire new ones.
Purpose. The feeling that we have the power to change the world for the better.
How it works?
When in a good mood, business disputes and all turns out easily and quickly. Once the mood is spoiled, everything starts to fall, and the impression is created from hand, if the whole world is conspiring against us.
It turns out that the areas of the brain responsible for emotions that are directly related to the areas that are responsible for cognitive function. That is emotional communication and cognitive functions are interrelated. Emotions are directly connected with thought-and cognitive functions such as memory, attention and reasoning.
And if positive emotions help us to cope with many problems and find solutions in even the most complex tasks, the negative emotions on the contrary only create problems. We become distracted, we have difficulties with planning and remembering, as well as there are problems with the rational decision-making.
Therefore, less negative, more positive thoughts and a healthy lifestyle. The same exercise not only improve health, but also uplifting. Also you can try to keep your work diary in which to record your daily thoughts of work and new ideas. This will help to track down the source of negativity and deal with it before it has time to significantly affect the important decisions.
And finally, one very interesting case!
During his experiment Antonio Damasio found that a key element in decision-making are strong emotions. One of his patients suffered from damage ventromedial frontal lobe and maintaining mental clarity lost the ability to feel emotions. And as a result, he also lost the ability to make decisions and plan for the future. And he was absolutely not tied to work.