The Evolution of Human Motivation

Why are you reading this?

What was it that made you allocate two of the most precious and scarce resources we have as humans (time and attention) to spending 5 minutes reading this article?

Every decision we make is guided by some form of motivation.

Spending a year studying Behavioural Science has taught me just how important (and weird) motivation is. If we want to influence people's behaviour (in a good way hopefully!) then understanding how motivation works is crucial.

We live in an age where our understanding of motivation is incredible, but that knowledge is perhaps not being used effectively...

Whilst on the surface we all make different decisions, what motivates us is actually fairly consistent. To understand that, it's worth understanding the history of human motivation.

The Era of Survival

We are motivated by things that helped our ancestors survive.

In the past, we had to find food, water, and shelter to survive. We also had to protect ourselves from predators. These needs were so important that they became hardwired into our brains. This means that we are still motivated by these things today, even though we don't need to worry about survival as much as our ancestors did.

Social Motivation

Our motivations changed as we became more social.

In the past, we lived in small groups and depended on each other for survival. This meant that it was important to be accepted by the group and to have a high social status. People who were well-liked and respected were more likely to be successful in finding food, mates, and protection.

As human societies became larger and more complex, social motivation became even more important. People needed to be able to cooperate with others to achieve common goals. They also needed to be able to navigate the complex social hierarchies that developed.

Today, social motivation is still one of the most important factors that drives human behaviour. We are motivated to be liked and accepted by others, to have a sense of belonging, and to achieve status and recognition.

The Industrial Revolution and the birth of "Extrinsic Motivation"

The Industrial Revolution changed how we think about motivation.

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people worked in agriculture or in small businesses. They were motivated by intrinsic factors, such as the satisfaction of a job well done or the sense of community that came from working with family and friends.

However, the Industrial Revolution brought about a new way of working. People began to work in factories, where they were often paid by the hour and had little control over their work. This led to a shift in motivation, with extrinsic factors, such as money and job security, becoming more important.

This shift in motivation was reflected in the development of management theories. Early management theories focused on maximizing productivity by using incentives and rewards. These theories were based on the assumption that people are motivated by money and that they will work harder if they are paid more.

The Academic Theory of Motivation (this is a Geeky bit ??...)

The model of human Motivation we've all heard of is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs . Maslow (1954) proposed that human beings possess two sets of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs.

The first four levels are often referred to as deficiency needs (basic needs to survive and function) and the top level is known as a growth need (self actualisation, or reach our potential). There were theories on motivation prior to this, but Maslow was the first to bring in self actualisation.

Self-Determination Theory (1980's) expanded on the model of Cognitive Evaluation Theory (1960's), which highlighted the difference between "Intrinsic" (you feel motivated by the task itself) and "Extrinsic" (you are motivated because you expect something in return, like money) motivation.

The popular book by Daniel Pink, "Drive" , proposed that Intrinsic Motivation is the key to elevating performance, and that in the modern world of work, extrinsic motivation can actually be counter productive if we find the task rewarding (I covered this in the last newsletter ).

Research into the neuroscience of motivation has led to the understanding of the brains reward system, and the critical role of Dopamine. This research opened up the idea of "Anticipation" (basically our brain likes the anticipation of the reward, not just the reward itself). This research had a strong influence on the persuasive design techniques used by Social Media apps today (good article on this if you're interested),

So what?

My simple-mind take on this is that we've gone through a cycle.

Pre-industrial revolution, most human "productivity" was motivated intrinsically, which all changed during 1800's as people started to become "employed". With the birth of wages/salary and then bonuses, the corporate model of motivation hasn't drastically changed. When companies want performance, they consider financial incentives as the default option.

Whilst that worked for tasks that were manual and skilled (labouring/crafts/factory line etc...), is it the right fit for the world of the knowledge worker? It's our capacity to think that's valued now. Increasingly the research tells us that extrinsic rewards are not the effective way to reward cognitively demanding work (problem solving/innovation), and yet almost every company relies on the Extrinsic Model.

My own experience is that I'm often talking to people who don't know what motivates them anymore. They've lost themselves in 10-20 years of the corporate world, and have reached a point where they don't know what it is they enjoy, where they get energy from, and what could potentially intrinsically motivate them (this happened to me too, but that's for another day!).

If I was a CEO of a company today, there are two questions I'd ask myself if I was looking at increasing the performance of my people through motivation:

1 - Do we have people who enjoy and get energy from the tasks they're spending their time doing?

2 - Are we putting them in the right working environment that enables them to do the work they enjoy?

The two are dependent on each other. If you hire someone for a Project Manager role who doesnt get energy from all of the things this role entails, then it doesnt matter what environment you put them in!

Last thought - I didn't know what I was good at, what I'd get energy from etc... when I left University. I stumbled into my own "Squiggly Career" that's led me to today. If I could go back in time, I would experience as much diversity and variety in the world of work as possible in my 20's. Use that time to learn about who I am, what I enjoy, what I'm good at, and then focus on the career. How many employees have followed a similar path? That's a challenge facing employees and employers alike.

#CultureHack

This week is all about working out where you get energy from, and it's courtesy of the inspiring duo of Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis from Amazing If .

They have LOADS of awesome free resources on their website, but the one that's relevant to this article is the "21 Coach Yourself Questions ".

Spend 5 minutes today answering them and I promise that you'll reflect on something useful and unexpected.

Thank you for reading!