A dog’s life!

I wholeheartedly agree with Groucho Marx’s astute observation:

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read"

I am the kind of a person who prefers curling up with a book, to curling up with a dog. Having said that, I also hold immense respects for dogs as a species. The extent of devotion a dog shows to his master (oops…pet parent) is unique. The old-school dog training protocols were based on the classical carrot & stick philosophy- the dog fetches the stick, he gets a reward. The dog doesn’t fetch the stick, he ‘gets’ the stick. The new age dog training protocols tend to be based on engagement, wherein the dog is treated as an equal member of the human family, getting similar affection that a human family member does. The concept of ‘motivation through engagement’ gaining traction over ‘motivation through carrot & stick’ is a welcome step…..at least in the canine world.

The human world is a bit more complicated. Many people of my generation, who are now in managerial or leadership roles, often believe that the traditional carrot and stick approach is still the best way to manage Generation Z employees. They argue that since they didn't prioritize work-life balance at that age, they must use strict measures to ‘motivate’ younger workers. For example, they think that because young people today value life outside of work, they need to be driven harder so that they understand the value of work. They also believe that because Generation Z grew up receiving rewards just for participating and spending a lot of time on social media, they should be motivated with more badges and rewards, whether monetary or non-monetary.

I feel that the ‘motivation through engagement’ approach is needed desperately in today’s attention-deficit world. In his book Drive, Daniel Pink hypothesizes that real motivation at workplace comes from within and not from extrinsic carrots or sticks. He further postulates that there are three intrinsic motivators at workplace:

1. Mastery: the feeling that one is getting better each day based on a continuous feedback loop
2. Autonomy: the feeling of having control over one’s work
3. Purpose: the knowledge that what one does, actually matters?

For most organisations, this is the performance review time. A good conversation around activating these intrinsic motivators would be super cool. Imagine a world where employees actually look forward to coming to office on Mondays!! Too much?

I think I need to get my coffee and curl up with a book...