Chapter: Motivation and Engagement

Conversation has a kind of charm about it, an insinuating and insidious something that elicits secrets from us just like love or liquor.

Credit: Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC – 65) Roman Philosopher & Playwright

What has the potential to engage and energize people, bring them closer together, and improve their effectiveness? It’s conversation.

In this chapter, I take a broad look at motivation and engagement and in particular the impact of measures and rewards.

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Introduction: Motivation and Engagement ** If you are motivated you are engaged

[Status: stub] POST NAVIGATION Pop-up all posts in this chapter × Motivation and EngagementIntroduction: Motivation and Engagement ** If you are motivated you are engagedGenuine Commitment We are committed when we decide to do something without any expectation of returnMotivation ** Motivation is a fire from withinEngagement ** Organizations live or die in the swarm … Continue reading Introduction: Motivation and Engagement ** If you are motivated you are engaged

Genuine Commitment We are committed when we decide to do something without any expectation of return

We often make a commitment to do things that we later give up on, but what is meant by a genuine commitment? To be committed means giving our time and energy to someone or something that we believe in or making a promise or a firm decision to do something. But a genuine commitment is … Continue reading Genuine Commitment We are committed when we decide to do something without any expectation of return

Motivation ** Motivation is a fire from within

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. Credit: Stephen Covey Economists and workplace consultants regard it as almost unquestioned dogma that people are motivated by rewards, so they don’t feel the need to test this. It has the … Continue reading Motivation ** Motivation is a fire from within

Engagement ** Organizations live or die in the swarm of daily interchange

Organizations live or die in the swarm of daily interchange — in complimenting and criticizing, passing and retaining information, smiling and frowning, asking and answering, demanding and resisting, controlling and consenting. What injects meaning into one’s work is derived neither from the individual alone, nor environmental forces, but from participation in the swarm. Credit: Kenneth … Continue reading Engagement ** Organizations live or die in the swarm of daily interchange

Punished by Rewards Loving what you do is a more powerful motivator than any goody

It is often suggested that offering rewards is necessary to motivate people, particularly when it comes to sharing their knowledge. However, this strategy is ultimately ineffective and potentially harmful in the long run. In his book Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn shows that while manipulating people with incentives may seem to work in the short … Continue reading Punished by Rewards Loving what you do is a more powerful motivator than any goody

The Difference Between Responsibility and Accountability We take responsibility but are held accountable

We use the words responsibility and accountability loosely in everyday language, but what’s the difference? We take responsibility but are held accountable. We can not make someone responsible for something; we can only hold them accountable. Some key points: We can only choose to take responsibility for something. No one else can assign responsibility to us. Accountability … Continue reading The Difference Between Responsibility and Accountability We take responsibility but are held accountable

We Need to Stop Trying to Do Things to Each Other And start working together

To encourage engagement and ownership, we must stop trying to do things to each other. People often ask me, “How do you make people share?” or “How do you make people adopt social tools?” or, more generally, “How do you make people more engaged?”. That little word “make” comes up time and time again. It’s … Continue reading We Need to Stop Trying to Do Things to Each Other And start working together

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