This document discusses a theory of human motivation and psychology. It proposes that human motivation comes from the capacity to create ideas and apply them to manage the environment. It states that the human mind consists of thought, emotion, attitude and attention, which are linked to the brain and influence actions. People act according to the ideas in their minds, and the intensity of emotion is proportional to the intensity of the associated ideas. It also discusses how minor events can trigger emotions from other, linked ideas, influencing behaviors disproportionately. The document advocates for developing positive emotions like fun at work to motivate employees and ensure they feel good about themselves and their work.

1. Motivation is the driver of action. Therefore, motivation
cannot be understood or even rationally discussed with-
out understanding our psyche, what it is, the causal fac-
tors in it, and its structure. To argue otherwise is the
same as stating one can make a motor-vehicle go faster
without being able to drive and with no knowledge of
how the vehicle works.
There is only one transparently constructed general theo-
ry of psychology discussed in the book The Origin of
Consciousness (Little, Graham Richard, The Origin of
Consciousness (July 26, 2016). The Origin of Conscious-
ness, Institute of Theoretical and Applied Social Science,
New Zealand, Sixth edition, March 2016. Available free
in PDF at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2814742)
The theory states (please read ‘Origin’ for full definition
of terms):
The fundamental of human nature is the capacity to
create ideas and apply them to manage and relate to
the environment in which the person finds them-
selves.
The human mind consists of thought (ideas), emotion,
attitude, attention, linked to the body via the brain
structures (neural flow patterns) in reacting part in
the brain.
People act according to the ideas they have in mind.
The intensity with which ideas held is directly propor-
tional to the emotions associated with those ideas.
The human spirit is the emotional sense of self arising
from first formation of the brain in the womb, to
development of language and the capacity for con-
ceptualization in the infant.
The human psyche consists of specific structures of mind
relative to a specific aspect of the environment, or
to specific issues or ideas. A specific structure is
defined as a ‘mental set’.
Our spirit is linked all mental sets and thus our spirit
influences the emotions in all mental set and forms
the ‘emotional tone’ to our personality. A person
who ‘senses’ the glass half full or half empty for
example.
Understanding ‘psychological overflow’
Due linkages of mental sets a minor triggering event my
draw on emotions in a major but linked mental set result-
ing in a response by the person out of proportion to what
would rationally be expected. That is some circumstance
may draw a response based on emotions not immediately
involved in the circumstance. During the response the
person may not be aware of the origination of the re-
sponse, only aware of how they feel and what they feel
they need do.
For example, a team leader may speak to correct a team
member, the coaching is quite minor. The person is with-
drawn and unresponsive. In their mind they linked to
the recent spate of newspaper articles on how compa-
nies rip off people, and are making extraordinary and
unreasonable profits.
Building emotion at work
The OPD-HCD™ technology for team development
stresses clear direction, then enabling each person build
that direction in mind in the form of a game plan. The
game plan is triggered when the person comes to work
and thus forms the core of the mental set structure of
‘me at work’ (see newsletters 2-12, & 14-19, in sum-
mary section of the LinkedIn profile
www.linkedin.com/in/grahamrlittle).
Every person will have their internal emotions associat-
ed with the mental set structure of ‘me at work’. Thus
each person will have their ‘internal drive’… this will
be heavily influenced by their spirit, their self-esteem
(the elaboration of our spirit which develops via lan-
guage and conceptualization after the initial emotional
core is formed), and their ideas on goals for themselves,
life purpose and other ideas in their world view that
bear to their involvement at work.
The Team leader then seeks to build additional emotion
associated with the game plan. Developing fear works,
but fear is not recommended as a long term team cul-
ture.
The key positive emotion is fun, so the team leader aims
for all team members to deliver their agreed game plan,
and have fun while doing so. The external emotions
developed by the team leader is supported by the team
making the experience at work being enjoyable.
A further important process is the team leader under-
standing the spirit, so ensuring the person gets feedback
that they are doing well, or correct them as needed, so
that when the person looks in the mirror every morning,
they like and respect the person looking back at them
Engagement as finding corporate balance
It is important to understand that the issue of ‘self at
work’ will exist in many interlinked mental sets. Thus
the internal drive of a person at work will be influenced
by many issues, many of which may not directly in-
volve the exact work circumstance. For example, if
person was concerned about environmental pollution
and felt the company was contributing to future pollu-
tion problems. This could easily dampen the drive of the
person in a work team.
The definition of engagement (#14 & #15) is the person
able to visualise the game plan, ‘see’ themselves acting
it out, with no negative emotions or no triggering
thoughts that erode the internal drive of the person to
strive for the perfect game. If there are ideas/emotions
that erode the drive, then this needs to be used by the
corporate leadership to review policy and corporate
ethics to enable all people to feel peace as employees.
OPD theory is grounded on the only scientific general theory of psychology
OPD-HCD™: Enabling perfect game plans perfectly
delivered
Newsletter #26 Understanding human motivation
Newsletter topics
1. Seeking new thinking.
2. How to double profits.
3. Goal—action.
4. Linking staff action to
strategy.
5. Human performance
driving results.
6. HR as rollout of strate-
gy.
7. Behavioral structure of
the organization.
8. Understanding human
psychology.
9. Linking people to be-
havioral structure.
10. Perfect human perfor-
mance.
11. Performance manage-
ment moving actual
toward perfect perfor-
mance.
12. Built in flexibility.
13. A scientifically proven
balanced solution to
human performance
as a driver of results.
14. Redefining engage-
ment.
15. Culture.
16. All HR policy changes.
17. Lifting expectation.
18. Redefining leadership.
19. Redefining manage-
ment.
20. Why has it not been
done before?
21. Stop. Reflect. Chose
and improve.
22. Why can’t we do it
ourselves?
23. Mind of the CEO.
24. HR as the ‘right hand’
of the CEO.
25. Building a ‘verbal
ready’ Executive.
26. Understanding human
motivation.
27. Building and imple-
menting an integrated
motivation policy.
28. Human capital.
29. Finding and develop-
ing talent.
30. Choosing better ideas.
Reading these newsletters you will gain
new insight into how to manage the link
between people and your organization so
that both benefit by increased results,
greater success, increased profits, more
fulfilling work, and greater satisfaction.
Contact: info@opdcoach.com to meet and explore how this system will lift results in your business.
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