Motivation is fully one third of the performance mix: if we want to know how to perform better, we need to review our strategy, our knowledge/skill set, and – yes –our motivational levels. In fact motivation is virtually synonymous with our energy levels as we approach any task or activity.
Then, if that is the case, why is it so, relatively speaking, ignored by management? Organizations spend a fortune on strategy and marketing; and another mint on training; and the general assumption is – well, if training is going on, then the motivation will take care of itself.
This of course is a dangerous and false assumption. The truth is that motivation won’t take of itself. Motivation is like a muscle – it must be exercised. Use it or lose it. It is management’s responsibilities to address its issues.
But there is one compelling, and generally overlooked, reason why management does not like to ‘look’ too closely at motivation. Management likes to manage, and motivation unfortunately does not make that process easy. Why?
There are four basic pillars – or quadrants – that uphold a business, or the functioning of any organization. They are: the finance, the marketing and sales, the operations, and finally the people. If we review each one of them in turn we find the core reason why motivation is best avoided – and perhaps will go away.
Think about it: the finance is about the balance sheet, the profit and loss, and cash flow – and other financial information which all comes down to a spread sheet and a One-Zero situation: either we have it, or we don’t. The same is true of marketing and sales: we spend X, get Y leads, convert Z prospects into sales. One-Zero. And again: the operations – product or service – the factory produces Q widgets, or our charge rate is P per hour, or whatever.
The point I am getting at is: Finance, Marketing and Sales, Operations are all measurable and therefore certain. Managers like certainty, like dealing with certainty – how comforting to see the spreadsheet with the numbers on – so good to be able to manipulate them, work on them, and finally master them.
How unlike the fourth quadrant: the people. We try to put systems in place, we try to be objective about performance, but despite our best efforts people, and their motivation, remains ambiguous. We hate ambiguity, so like an ostrich we bury our head and pretend everything is being taken care of.
In other words most managers are psychologically pre-disposed to avoid dealing with the motivation issue. This, as we know, is a pity – and a huge waste.
James
The Mapping Motivation Series 