Dodo Birds are Not Extinct

In the past few weeks, I’ve received excited emails, tweets and Facebook messages to check this video out : Daniel Pink on the Surprising Science of Motivation. Isn’t that already testament that this video resonates with people?

After watching the video, I understood better why this video has been making its rounds in the Worldwide Web.

This video features Daniel Pink (also known as Dan Pink), former chief speechwriter for Al Gore, who has gone on to write many critically acclaimed books on new ways in which management can engage the 21st century workforce.

Here, he shares concrete proofs and evidences on how rewards and incentives actually demotivate employees! Shocking and surprising, isn’t it? Most of all, this conclusion is not based on touchy feely ethical principles but on cold hard facts, truths and evidences. Yet, many businesses have been slow to realize this. Why? Because it means relinquishing control. It’s strange, isn’t it? How many of us are able to recognize that healthy relationships require some level of relinquishing control but when it comes to business and work relationships, we can’t seem to apply that same principle.

I totally agree with Dan Pink’s assertion that especially for our 21st century workforce, extrinsic incentives don’t work as well anymore. Sure, we need to be paid fairly but there comes a treshold when extrinsic motivators just don’t drive us to go the extra mile. But INTRINSIC motivators will.

So, what intrinsic motivators will hit the sweet spot for 21st century employees?

1) Autonomy: the desire to direct our own destinies

2) Mastery: the desire to get better at something that matters

3) Purpose: the feeling of significance from contributing towards something important

How does this translate into management policies?

Autonomy: In tangible terms, this means that employees need more trust from management and less scrutiny. This trust translates into more psychological freedom for employees to think of creative ways in which they can achieve or even surpass desired objectives, which will excite them to go the extra mile for the company.

Mastery: This means that companies need to focus on training and developing employees in areas they are interested in, if they wish to engage employees and win their loyalty.

Purpose: Employees need a sense of purpose. They need to know they are contributing towards a larger cause that is meaningful for the company and the world.

During Corporate Creativity class in uni (one of my favorite classes to date), we were shown a video on IDEO, a design and innovation consulting firm. With only 180 employees, it develops 90 new and radically different products a year! It has also been recognized as an epitome of creativity and innovation, worldwide. The best people fight to enter this company. How does IDEO do it? By applying its design skills on designing a culture for creativity.

ABC TV was so intrigued by this company that it did an INSIDE IDEO programme which has also been uploaded on Youtube. I’ve included these videos in this entry for your viewing. Watch them and be blown away by the amazing culture:

Tekla S. Perry was also highly drawn to IDEO and did a case study on IDEO as a model for how small firms can innovate by designing a culture for creativity.

In his case study, he examines how IDEO did it:

1) Banning Bureaucracy

IDEO keeps its staff creative by operating without a hierarchy and by taking the idea of a flat organization to an extreme. There are no organizational charts or titles and other than the few people who handle bureaucratic functions such as payments, etc, the rest of the employees only have their fields of specialties reflected on their business cards.There is a no-promotion policy but motivation comes in the form of internally produced trophies presented at project-completion parties, frequent parties and other gatherings.

Moreover, the founder of IDEO also believes in the notion of “smallness”. 25 people is the ideal size for a creative company, he asserts. Any more people and people wouldn’t recognize everybody else in the building and the company would have to institute procedures and bureaucracy.

2) Mentorship

Very importantly too, new exployees are assigned mentors to help them along. Moreover, project leaders are not appointed; they are self-selected based on interest and passion. That way, they will be ever-willing to guide everybody else along in the course of the project. The project leader will then go on to recruit people he feels he needs. This allows employees to handle a diversity of projects which prevents burnout. The company even encourages inter-office exchanges so employees can experience different cultures which makes them more open-minded and creative. This also prevents burnout as employees are able to experience different working environments within the same company, IDEO.

3) Cross-fertilization:

All design teams are interdisciplinary, combining staffers trained in engineering, art and industrial design, psychology and other fields. Because of the inter-office transfers, many design teams also have at least one staff from another IDEO office, which brings diversity and more perspectives into the teams.

4) Recruitment:

IDEO is careful in its hiring process and only hires “curious intellects”. Any potential hire needs to be “lunched” by 10 current staffers who will rate the applicant in 10 or so categories including love of product design, communication skills, technical knowledge and drawing skills. The applicant needs to score all 9s or 10s to get hired.

Interesting, isn’t it?  It’s awesome to be part of the 21st century which is a time of change and progress. If companies don’t start adopting new “mindsets”, they’re going to lose the best people, which is the beginning of… downfall. But, if they are able to embrace these changes, imagine what they’ll achieve!