Hello blog, the mediocrity ends now. Ever since the new year began, I've been trying to limit the word mediocre from my lifestyle. And blog... you're next.
There are so many things on my mind. One thing that really is irking me today are my glasses. Why, after deliberate attempts to keep the lenses clean, does dirt and grime make exhausting and ultimately successful attempts to land on my lenses? WHY? Don't you have anything else to do? Like, go under a couch? Rest upon a coffee table? Or better yet, a dust pan?? To all the dirt and grime out there: nobody likes you. Seriously. Don't believe me? Watch Contagion.
You don't even have a personality. You don't have character, nor do you have the ability to love or hate. Oh dirt and grime, you might be thinking "Wow, that Alex character is such a jerk." Unfortunately, everything I have been saying are TRUE FACTS! Go do something with your life, dirt and grime, instead of being lazy and attaching yourself to random objects. Its pathetic.
Michelle and I had a friend move in with us from our church. She's been looking for a new apartment, and during the waiting period she's been staying with us. She also brought two cats to accompany our hyperactive little cat, Ivy, whom I've mentioned in previous blog posts. Both are boy cats whose names are Mogley and Nila. Mogley and I have yet to hit things off, but he is roughly 18 pounds of pure manly cat. Mogley and Ivy seem to get along well, as they play fight and seem to not have a problem with eating from each others food dishes.
The other day, I saw Ivy, sitting under a chair, swatting at Mogley's wagging tail, as he was sitting on top of said chair. Despite the dynamic of their friendship, Ivy was only using Mogley at this moment as a mere means of entertainment, by batting at his tail. For a moment, I wondered if Mogley was at all offended by this. But then I remembered that they're just cats, they do this all the time. However, that didn't stop me from analyzing the situation, and recalled a video I recently saw by Daniel Pink. Its about a 10-minute long video, but I enjoyed it very much and you can check it out at the end of this blog.
In modern day business, we see a widely used practice of rewarding good behavior. Obvious right? A manager works above an employee and pays them to do their job. When the employee displays substantial performance that is above and beyond expectations, it can result in a bonus, raise, or promotion. You may be wondering where I am going with this, and why I am bringing up such an obvious and apparent aspect of modern day business practice.
Ever have someone tell you "you don't know me," in a very aggressive manner? Well, to be honest, most of the time that person is right. This can especially be the case between the dynamic relationship of manager and employee. People work, because something motivates them. Individuals labor through the nine-to-five to get what is in it for them. Managers, in their position, are given the task to see that the employees they supervise stay ticking. But more often than not, they do not know what it is that truly motivates their employees.
The video by Daniel Pink shows something quite stunning. Studies were done that take simple ideas and tested those ideas at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Those simple ideas were the following: If you reward something, you get more of the behavior you want, and if you punish something, you get less of the behavior you want. From there, they took a group of students and offered them each a specific level of reward from three different levels, had them take part in a series of challenges specific to those rewards.
Now this is what is stunning. We assume that the higher reward yielded a higher performance, right? Well, when it came to mechanical and physical tasks that was true. High reward, in a majority of cases, let to the highest level of performance. However, when it came down to tasks that called for simple cognitive skill, a larger reward led to poorer performance! Those who were offered the lowest reward performed better than those who were offered the highest reward. What?
So, do we simply throw out our old beliefs? Everything we learned in school and business classes is wrong? How is this possible?
This study was testing further, this time in a more professional setting. At a company in India, employees were offered two weeks, one month, or two months worth of salary as a reward for their performance. They took on similar responsibilities, but were offered a specific reward for those tasks. In the end, those who gained two weeks performed no worse than those who got one month, and those who were offered two months for top performance ultimately failed. Employees who had a chance to earn two months of paid salary upfront failed on their task, but those who were offered only 2 weeks performed well. In the end, rewarding something did not lead to the desired behavior of good performance, but less of it!
Talk about contrary to logical economics.
So now, when it comes to complicated tasks that require deep thinking, monetary motivators do not work. In many situations, money even serves to be detrimental to businesses, as executives who make money as their main motivator constantly look for new, sometimes illegal, ways of obtaining more of it. As a result, those who fall under ultimately suffer. Companies that only care about monetary reward do not have a stake in the satisfaction of their customers, and ultimately are willing to sacrifice that, resulting in poor customer service for example.
But not all hope is lost. Many managers in workplace settings hope to get employees motivated enough that their main motivation is no longer money. Once that happens, it is said that productivity, efficiency, and overall charisma knows no bounds.
My father once told me that "if you love what you do at work, you will never work a single day in your life." When we go in the office, waiting for the next pay check as our main motivator, there is a disconnect between what we do at work and what we hold passionately in our lives. If we give people the opportunity to take on their passions and show the world their true skills, the results that can about have astonishing potential. Further along in the study, experts discovered that when there is purpose and meaning to the work that is being done, passion and motivation flourish.
Given our recovering economy, many of us are in job positions that we cannot leave. We do not have the capacity or the money to pursue our dreams and passions. People out there want to start their own business, but do not have the resources to build. People want to travel around the world, but cannot afford the plane ticket.
But that ultimately doesn't stop us from enjoying our passions. Most of us don't get paid to go to the movies. Most of us don't get paid to run in a marathon. We don't get paid for spending time with our families. A majority of us don't get paid for painting, writing, reading, crafting, filming, or doing anything that are our true passions. Why?!
Because its fun. In a world like ours, we may not have the ability to make our passions our profession. But that does not mean we should not pursue. And we should not lose our passions, as they can definitely help during our free time when we are not working the grueling 9 to 5.
Steve Jobs wanted to put a ding in the universe. Mark Zuckerberg wanted to make the world come together through socialization. Skype wanted to be disruptive, but make the world a better place. BMW wanted to revolutionize the meaning of affordable luxury in an automobile. All of these ideas had a major purpose. And if we can find a purpose to what we do in our lives and be professionals to what we love, than money no longer needs to be our main motivator.
Now doesn't that sound good?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
-Alex
