The difference between Kindness & Niceness, and does the Carrot & Stick still work?

THINKING YELLOW

Yellow is creative from a mental aspect, the colour of new ideas, helping us to find new ways of doing things. It is the practical thinker, not the dreamer. It is the best colour to create enthusiasm for life and can awaken greater confidence and optimism.

“Another thing that’s very important to me is kindness, and kindness over niceness.” Sarah Jones Simmer

“The easiest example I can give is that a kind person will tell you, you have spinach in your teeth and a nice person won’t because it’s uncomfortable, right? But the kind person is going to set you up for a much better rest of your day because you’re not running around with spinach in your teeth.”

THE STONECUTTERS BLOCK

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 100 & First blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” Jacob Riis

Does Stick & Carrot still work?

In his book, "Drive," Daniel Pink proposes a new motivational model that he believes is a better fit for today's creative and innovative workplaces.

Pink's model focuses on enabling people to become intrinsically motivated – that is, using internal drivers for motivation. He calls this behaviour "Type I." It contrasts with the traditional model of extrinsic motivation, or "Type X" behaviour, which focuses on motivating people through reward and punishment.

To build an intrinsically motivated team, you need to focus on three key factors:

1. Autonomy – people are trusted and encouraged to take ownership of their own work and skill development.
2. Mastery – people see no limits to their potential and are given the tools that they need to continue to improve their skills.
3. Purpose – people are encouraged to use their skills to achieve a "greater" purpose – for instance, getting involved in a "good cause" that they're passionate about

QUESTION TIME

Questioning techniques are important because they can stimulate learning, develop the potential to think, drive to clear ideas, stir the imagination, and incentive to act

Questions of the Day

1. Why do you work?
2. What's your motivation?
3. Is it the prospect of that end-of-year bonus?
4. The promotion that you've been promised?
5. Or do you just, quite simply, love what you do?