The current economy is the creative one where, thinkers and doers, work together as a team..
Thus, these are very creative jobs that differ from the more repetitive jobs that characterize the industrial economy.
In the industrial economy, tasks are predominantly algorithmic and are characterized by workflows with predetermined instructions.
In the creative economy, on the other hand, tasks are predominantly heuristic and are characterized by the need to experiment with different alternatives and find new solutions. Creative work falls into this type.
What motivation is needed for people with creative tasks?
Daniel Pink, with his groundbreaking book Drive, published in Italy by Ayros, talks about the surprising scientific studies on what motivates us in work and life.
Daniel Pink tells us about 3 types of motivation:
- Motivation 1.0
- Motivation 2.0 or extrinsic motivation
- Motivation 3.0 or intrinsic motivation
Motivation 1.0 meets basic needs such as eating and sleeping.
Extrinsic motivation is external to the person and is characterized by rewarding and punishing systems according to achievements. This approach is known as the stick-and-carrot approach and was born to handle repetitive or algorithmic tasks.
Intrinsic motivation is internal to the person and is characterized by an inner construction. It works very well for heuristic tasks.
Unfortunately, organizations today are still predominantly command-and-control based and thus apply extrinsic motivation.
These organizations fail to adapt to the changes that characterize today’s world.
The solution for the creative economy is to have intrinsically motivated people that work in teams to cope with the complexity of creative tasks.
The motivation 2.0 demands acceptance and substantial obedience.
The motivation 3.0 calls for involvement because that is the only way people get activated.
Pink identifies 3 elements underlying motivation 3.0:
- Autonomy, that is, the ability to choose how activities can be developed
- mastery, which is the process of becoming skilled in a given activity;
- sense of purpose, that is, the desire to make an important contribution with one’s activity.
In my experience with agile physical product development teams, I have experienced the growth of intrinsic motivation of the people involved.
I will return with future articles on the elements behind intrinsic motivation and how they can be developed in the company.
