There are two basic reasons why we do anything. One is because we are rewarded for it, whether by money, praise, or gifts. The other is because we want to. The rewards are called "extrinsic motivation" and our desire to do something is called "intrinsic motivation." If you think about "in" of "intrinsic" as being equivalent to "inside," as in the motivation that is inside you, you can keep the distinction in your mind.
If you are trying to get someone to do something, whether it is children cleaning their rooms, students learning, or employees working, intrinsic motivation is a lot more powerful than a reward system. Yet, you cannot require a person to have intrinsic motivation. You cannot make someone want to do something, But you can set up conditions that make it more likely they will want to do something.
Supporting Intrinsic Motivation
The most important part of supporting intrinsic motivation is to imagine the world from the point of view of the other person. This has to be done without judgment. Whether or not you like it, the people who work for you have their own point of views for their own reasons. if you can look at these with understanding instead of frustration, you will be able to solve motivational problems.
Connect Task to Something Interesting
One way to support intrinsic motivation is to find out what people enjoy and connect tasks to that, if possible. For example, if a teacher wants students to do an assignment,it would be important to imagine that assignment from the point of view of the other person. If the assignment relates to something a student enjoys, the student is more likely to want to work on it. If it seems like busy work, the student is likely to hate it and do a poor job on it.
In the case of teaching, many skills can be learned through a wide range of subject matter. Children can learn to read using books about dinosaurs or undersea animals or ballet. They don't all have to "see Spot run."
Remove Barriers
Connecting the job to something a person likes is one strategy. Another possibility is to remove the psychological barriers to getting the job done. Suppose you want children to clean their rooms. They might feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. They might not know how to clean them. They might have so much stuff in there that the room cannot possibly look neat. You might feel,inside, like you have taught them all this, but they may need to have a review and some loving help.
On-the-job barriers might include the fact that a task seems to have no relation to what the business is all about. People need to know how what they do fits with the mission at large. Or, the business has a lot of rules that assume employees are unruly children instead of responsible adults. A rule change may cause employees to live up to higher expectations and therefore turn out a better performance.
Maintain Honesty
If you decide to make changes, but you don't truly believe in those changes or the people you are working with, then you may be putting up yet another psychological barrier to intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is deeply seated in people's minds and hearts because it has something to do with what they love. Surface level solutions that are put in place to placate will ultimately backfire.
Trust is essential. If you can let go of the extrinsic motivation solutions and go for intrinsic motivation, and if you can allow yourself to trust that people want to do a good job, then these strategies will work. Children thrive in clean, organized spaces. Students want to learn. Employees want to have a meaningful job that they can do well in. Their desires are truly no that different from yours. They need you to be aware of the conditions they are working in and for you to adjust those conditions to the realities of their minds and lives.
Ask
Don't just try to guess what people want in order to do a job well. Ask them what they need, but ask them in a way that invites candor. Try to do this personally in some way. Demonstrate that you are willing to hear and act on constructive criticism. When people feel like their concerns are being heard and addressed, they tend to commit more to their jobs.
Success!
When you adjust working conditions to people's needs and realities, whether in your home, your classroom, or your place of employment, you will find that the whole environment becomes more pleasant. Yes, there will still be occasional problems that you will have to deal with. There are people who are truly irresponsible. Some are immature enough to want something, such as a paycheck or a grade, for nothing. Yet these people are the minority. Most people will bloom when their needs are addressed and their deep satisfaction will increase productivity and success.
This is what makes the world go round,
Intrinsic motivation is the most powerful way for people to get jobs done in the home, school, and at work. Intrinsic motivation is based on a person's mind and emotions and therefore it cannot be mandated. It can, however, be supported.
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