“Scotty, if we don’t have full power in the next 10 seconds, we are all dead!” – James T. Kirk in more than one episode of Star Trek. When it comes to motivation, how many of us would have performed better in Scotty’s position after hearing those words?
I was recently watching Dan Pink, a TED event speaker address the subject of motivation and rewards and their actual impact on performance. He outlines multiple studies in which groups were challenged to conduct specific problem-solving tasks – some with rewards attached as motivation and some without. He notes that the studies showed an unexpected outcome – being the larger the reward, the poorer the performance. He goes on to note in more detail that the type of problem is at the root, with less complex mechanical problems being positively impacted by rewards and more complex problems actually taking a greater amount of time if rewarded. One of his closing statements leaves the viewer with the thought that truly complex problems are best solved by people whose motivation for such solution is the solution itself, and that by adding rewards we may very well be slowing down the rate at which success is achieved.
And while I can agree with much of what he said, I would like to add an additional component; that being individual personality / performance profiles. It is well understood that when it comes to “performance on the job” there are personal profiles that are more and less suited to maximum output. From sales people to downhill ski racers, there are specific profiles (mental / physical) that define the optimal performers or those who could become such. And once defined, one can then determine the motivational components needed to maximize performance – from internal to external – but all focused on success as defined by the participant.
In defense of Mr. Pink’s hypothesis, most people can relate to either being or watching someone perform a task at which they were very skilled but then needed to do so under the pressure of a reward. Take for example a good amateur golfer playing in a team event where others are counting on them to win money. All of a sudden this highly skilled person absolutely collapses because the pressure of the reward added a negative rather than positive component to the task. There are, however, people who actually perform tasks better under pressure. “When the going gets tough the tough get going,” right? These folks are defined by personal profile and can be found in all walks of life.
I would add to Mr. Pink’s conclusions that the definition of incentive or reward needs to be tailored to the personal profile and the problem at hand. In all cases, there is an incentive to perform and in many cases, that incentive is internal to the performer. But do not believe that “incentives” in the generic reduce performance. When matched improperly, they certainly can induce the opposite of what is desired, and when employed correctly, no matter the complexity, the results are improved.
For those of you who remember Star Trek, the Series – you can probably still hear Captain Kirk saying to Scotty through the intercom – “if we don’t have full power in the next ten seconds we are all dead” – he said it softly but with meaning. I would like to think that he knew Scotty’s persona well enough to know that the kind of life saving motivation he gave him would work. We can all picture someone for whom those same words would have had the opposite outcome – oops, all dead.
