We have long held at Motivational Maps that performance is down to three core components: direction, skills (including knowledge), and motivation. So far as the operational work goes at middle and technical levels, then we are really concerned with two aspects: skills and motivation, and this since the direction – strategy, plans, goals, objectivesContinue reading “Performance, Motivation and What Else?”
Category Archives: Weblogs
What is difficult about Motivational Maps?
Every product, service and system has its difficulties, ranging from the sublime difficulty to the easy and the awkward. Awkward is the one we dislike the most; easy we can deal with, and sublime can throw us a challenge, so that when we prevail we feel good about ourselves. But awkward? Hmm, that's justContinue reading “What is difficult about Motivational Maps?”
Touched by death on a Monday morning
Sometimes highly inconsequential things affect one deeply. Death, of course, is not inconsequential or even consequential to the one to whom it happens, for as Wittgenstein famously said, “Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death”; but for those of us who remain it is another 'object' that weContinue reading “Touched by death on a Monday morning”
Getting success clear in your mind
"What's your definition of success"? – a question I was asked recently by someone who claimed that "no one I know has a satisfactory answer". Curious how others would answer this. Anyone? There is a tendency to regard this as an entirely personal matter, as if by simply defining what you want means that thereforeContinue reading “Getting success clear in your mind”
Thinking about appraisal 2
What then is appraisal? A good starting point for this is to understand what psychological principles performance appraisal is based on. William James, the founding father of American psychology, discovered that there were three conditions that always led to enhanced performance. The first was that people always performed better when they had or were givenContinue reading “Thinking about appraisal 2”
Thinking about appraisal 1
The primary goal of organisations is find and keep customers so that in this way they make a profit. But they cannot do this without the active support of their staff. The key issue is to help teams and individuals improve their performance. How, then? Appraisal is just such a system that is designed toContinue reading “Thinking about appraisal 1”
Three types of people
Someone once said that there were two types of people: people who divide the world into two types of people, and people who don't! A brilliant paradox, but alas not wholly true, because there are three types of people, not two; it is as well to know these types because one of the most importantContinue reading “Three types of people”
Checking out optimism
Optimism is a favourite topic for coaches, and quite rightly so. There is now so much important literature about it and its consequences. I am on record as saying that optimism is a pre-requisite for success in leadership and management, and probably every major area of our life, including relationships. For, after all, what kindContinue reading “Checking out optimism”
The new financial year
The new year is a long time ago; what was fresh now seems stale. But the good news is that there are always three new years in merry old England. There's the new New Year beginning on the First of January; there's the academic new year starting in September when schools return from their summerContinue reading “The new financial year”
Relieving negative self talk
Everyone at some time or another experiences negative self talk. Why is this and what should be do about it? The first character who speaks in the Bible is God: at Genesis 1 v 3 God says, “Let there be light”, and there was. This is a pattern of God's language: he frequently speaksContinue reading “Relieving negative self talk”
The Mapping Motivation Series 