"How Will You Motivate Your Team, Pascal-san?"

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

An elderly Japanese asked me this question a long time ago and it has stayed with me. How, indeed, do we motivate people to do extraordinary things?

There are many schools of thought. The carrot & stick is perhaps the oldest. "Do as I say or I'll do bad things to you!" There's no denying it works – to a point.

But the carrot & stick is a classic ‘push’ system. Is there any pull? Does it motivate creative work, breakthrough work?

Did Steve Jobs motivate his designers to want to create the IPod, IPhone, IPad by threatening them continually? No doubt there was an element of fear. "Don’t want Steve hollering at me again!"

But there was much more. Transcendent achievement requires connection to a deeper purpose – to a ‘Noble Goal’.

Jobs' celebrated hoshin (motto) is a good example. Let's put a ding in the universe.

Subtext: Let’s kick butt & take names! Let’s shoot the moon! Let’s give it everything we’ve got! And why? Because we’re human & we only live once. So let’s let the universe know we were here, that we lived to the fullest and left our mark.

Despite his idiosyncrasies, Jobs touched the heart. His 2005 Stanford commencement speech gets me every time.

‘Something for the head, something for the heart’, I’ve suggested Getting the Right Things Done.

And so, to motivate a team to strive for the transcendent, define and commit to a Noble Goal. Our hoshin here at Lean Pathways is Laughs, Learning & Lucre! – which reflects our purpose & priorities.

We often get it wrong. But by articulating our Purpose clearly, we can see abnormalities and are usually able to get back to a good condition.

Next time: How do we sustain our activities in the face of hurtles, hassles and hammerheads?

Best regards,

Pascal




In case you missed our last few blogs... please feel free to have another look…

What is a Good Life?
To Learn Corporate Strategy, Study the Military Masters
Why is laughter important in business?
Practical Problem Solving – Proving Cause & Effect

"How Will You Motivate Your Team, Pascal-san?"

By Pascal Dennis (bio)

An elderly Japanese asked me this question a long time ago and it has stayed with me. How, indeed, do we motivate people to do extraordinary things?

There are many schools of thought. The carrot & stick is perhaps the oldest. "Do as I say or I'll do bad things to you!" There's no denying it works – to a point.

But the carrot & stick is a classic ‘push’ system. Is there any pull? Does it motivate creative work, breakthrough work?

Did Steve Jobs motivate his designers to want to create the IPod, IPhone, IPad by threatening them continually? No doubt there was an element of fear. "Don’t want Steve hollering at me again!"

But there was much more. Transcendent achievement requires connection to a deeper purpose – to a ‘Noble Goal’.

Jobs' celebrated hoshin (motto) is a good example. Let's put a ding in the universe.

Subtext: Let’s kick butt & take names! Let’s shoot the moon! Let’s give it everything we’ve got! And why? Because we’re human & we only live once. So let’s let the universe know we were here, that we lived to the fullest and left our mark.

Despite his idiosyncrasies, Jobs touched the heart. His 2005 Stanford commencement speech gets me every time.

‘Something for the head, something for the heart’, I’ve suggested Getting the Right Things Done.

And so, to motivate a team to strive for the transcendent, define and commit to a Noble Goal. Our hoshin here at Lean Pathways is Laughs, Learning & Lucre! – which reflects our purpose & priorities.

We often get it wrong. But by articulating our Purpose clearly, we can see abnormalities and are usually able to get back to a good condition.

Next time: How do we sustain our activities in the face of hurtles, hassles and hammerheads?

Best regards,

Pascal

Reprise: How Will You Motivate People, Pascal-san?

By Pascal Dennis

An esteemed sensei asked me this a couple of decades ago. Still trying to figure it out.

How does a leader motivate people to do extraordinary things?

Change is hard, transformation hurts. By contrast, doing nothing is easy.

Here's what I have found.

Safety & Security are Job One

If people don't feel secure in their jobs, forget it.

Great companies live the 'Safety first' mantra -- and that means both physical & psychological safety.

Immature organizations may pooh-pooh such ideas.

'Human capital' -- morale, ingenuity, flexibility, problem solving -- have little value for them.

Does that make sense in the world of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google?

Noble Goals

People want to be involved in something bigger than themselves.

No man is an island, said the poet John Donne. People will die for a noble idea, a just cause.

So leadership is story-telling, narrative.

How to frame our activities so that our team members feel they 'building a cathedral', and not simply cutting stone?

Then, how to deploy our goals so that each front line team is engaged?

Simple Decency and the Great Virtues

The Great Virtues are enduring standards of behavior. As in manufacturing, ethical standards make problems visible.

People will not follow swine, at least not for long. Safety plus noble goals plus simple decency allows people to relax.

'I'm okay here. These are good people & they'll do the right thing...' -- which unleashes commitment & creativity.

Brain imaging technology reinforces these observations. Under stress, the Pre-frontal Cortex, the brain's managerial centre, shuts down.

The limbic and sub-cortical, fight or flight, parts of the brain light up.

Fear makes us stupid. Deming intuited this decades ago: "Drive fear out of the organization!"

Safety, Noble Goals and Simple Decency are simply good business.

Great organizations, those that have prospered for generations, understand this in their marrow.

(For more on the Great Virtues, see here)

Best,

Pascal

Pascal Dennis Bio

How Will You Motivate People? - Part 2

By Pascal Dennis

Me again, continuing our road 'to the interior'.

So how does a leader motivate people to do extraordinary things?

(Change is hard, transformation hurts. By contrast, doing nothing is easy.)

Here's what I have found.

Safety & Security are Job One

If people don't feel secure in their jobs, forget it.

Great companies live the 'Safety first' mantra -- and that means both physical & psychological safety.

Immature organizations may pooh-pooh such ideas.

'Human capital' -- morale, ingenuity, flexibility, problem solving -- have little value for them.

Does that make sense in the world of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google?

Noble Goals

People want to be involved in something bigger than themselves.

No man is an island, said the poet John Donne. People will die for a noble idea, a just cause.

So leadership is story-telling, narrative.

How to frame our activities so that our team members feel they 'building a cathedral', and not simply cutting stone?

Then, how to deploy our goals so that each front line team is engaged?

Simple Decency and the Great Virtues

The Great Virtues are enduring standards of behavior. As in manufacturing, ethical standards make problems visible.

People will not follow swine, at least not for long. Safety plus noble goals plus simple decency allows people to relax.

'I'm okay here. These are good people & they'll do the right thing...' -- which unleashes commitment & creativity.

Brain imaging technology reinforces these observations. Under stress, the Pre-frontal Cortex, the brain's managerial centre, shuts down.

The limbic and sub-cortical, fight or flight, parts of the brain light up.

Fear makes us stupid. Deming intuited this decades ago: "Drive fear out of the organization!"

Safety, Noble Goals and Simple Decency are simply good business.

Great organizations, those that have prospered for generations, understand this in their marrow.

(For more on the Great Virtues, see here)

Best,

Pascal