Motivation won't save you..
New years day is a funny old time. Our social media is saturated with heart felt pledges of transformation. Solemn oaths. I will stop eating so much pizza; I will attend the gym. I won't let people walk all over me. Today you're going to see a brand new me. A call to arms for all who seek self improvement. Truly, inspiring.
February 1st is a different tale. A tale of... well, nothing. No prose adorn this momentous date. Not even a mention. January has claimed its bounty in passing; your motivation. This is the price it demands to faithfully tick over.
Motivation is often enshrined as the highest of professional virtues. Industries far and wide have stamped it as "employable" and hunt for candidates to fill that box.
Here's my problem...
Motivation isn't what drives you three years in. Motivation doesn't get you to handle your 40th service outage at three in the morning. It doesn't see you having the same arguments with the same people for years. It doesn't make you set your jaw, lock your feet and demand a good deal.
So what does?
Grit.
So how are they different?
Motivation is optimistic; it burns like a match. Bright, attractive, effective. "This is gonna actually work!"
But you watch; that first contract negotiation that goes south; that first loan you need to get to keep the business afloat, motivation evaporates. It is fickle, cruel and disloyal and without an outstanding leader keeping it in check, it quickly abandons its host in search of greater rewards.
Grit doesn't care if that contract negotiation went badly. Those guys haven't got a clue; "I know I can do this". Grit doesn't get knocked quite so easily. It's resilient to failure and most importantly? It's loyal. Grit will stand by you through the tough times.
If everything is going to go well from here until the end of time, fill your staff with motivated people. Keep them happy and optimistic and they'll do great work for you. But if you want to push the boundaries; take risks; be bold? You're gonna need grit. A whole bunch of it.
A team of gritty, tough skinned employees will fight through thick and thin to get the job done. They'll move mountains and shift seas. Grit is the captain of underrated qualities in this day and age, yet shifting our focus back onto it will help us solve problems big and small.
PLG engineering evangelist
7 年Well written as usual Chris. I think the 2 go hand in hand. The right kind of motivation can give you that determination you talk about. In my experience the best motivation , the kind that drives you at you most tired , stressed out and low moments is the people you work with. When you're up at 3am or been working round the clock for weeks or months without a break to get a release in, you're not thinking about the customer, the company or the shareholders.It's about your team , you're working to support them and do right by them.
Head of SRE at FORM3
7 年Productivity = motivation + ability. There are many papers written on this topic. Grit without ability will take you nowhere. Ability without motivation is simply not sustainable. Whilst I agree with your post, I think it's worth exploring what grit actually means and what are the factors that lead to it.
Nicely written Chris!