Are you sick of the words "motivation", "empowerment", "engagement", or "incentivize"? Are you convinced that any attempt to actually motivate you, your coworkers, or your employees is doomed to end in a dystopian Dilbert-like nightmare? Do you suspect some of your coworkers might be motivated by something other than money (and might even be replicants)? No need for a Voight-Kampff test... just come learn about the psychology of motivation, and how your brain responds to it! We'll cover the history of motivation theory, some more modern concepts that aren't often talked about, and then offer some suggestions about how to use your new knowledge to help your company - or at least you - finally get rid of those "Teamwork!" posters on the walls.

1. WHAT MAKES YOU DO STUFF?
The Psychology of Motivation

2. DISCLAIMER

3. Topics in this presentation will involve large-scale, sweeping, and disruptive policies
and methodologies including but not limited to: compensation, benefits, time
tracking, bonuses, flex time, team composition, management structure, hiring,
firing, reviews, incentives, tasking, policies, and culture.
Detailed discussion and potentially positive commentary by the presenter about
any of these topics beyond the scope of single developers or an immediate project
team should not necessarily be taken as suggestion of, agitation for,
recommendation for, or demand for the initiation of these policies in the context of
your larger team structure or your company as a whole (though the presenter might
be happy to have those conversations at a later date).
Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Offer valid only in the continental United States and Canada. Burn
after reading. No representation or warranty, express or implied, with respect to the completeness, accuracy,
fitness for a particular purpose, or utility of these materials or any information or opinion contained herein. Actual
mileage may vary. Prices slightly higher west of the Mississippi. All models over 18 years of age. No animals were
harmed during the production of this product. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or events, past,
present or future, is purely coincidental. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. This product is
meant for educational purposes only. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Package sold by weight, not
volume. Contents may settle during shipment. No user-serviceable parts inside. Use only as directed.

5. MOTIVATION IS A REALLY VAGUE TERM.

6. WHAT WE’RE SOLVING HERE
Clarifying what the word motivation even means
Discovering why you work the way you do
Discovering why others work the way they do
Figuring out how to get you & your team to engage with your
work

7. An Exploration of Motivation
Type I and Type X
Practical Applications
NAVIGATING THIS TALK

8. WHERE DOES BEHAVIOR COME FROM?

9. ????
Actions
Desires
Needs
Motivation

10. We begin millions
of years ago…

11. MOTIVATION 1.0
1,000,000,000 BCE ~ 15000/10000 BCE

12. Hunger
Thirst
Money
Approval
Other Biological Needs
Eating
Drinking
Going To Work
Being Nice
CENSORED

13. Circa 1900
Important Names: Freud, Adler, Hull
Drive Theory
“The greater the feeling of inferiority that
has been experienced, the more powerful
is the urge to conquest and the more
violent the emotional agitation.”
-- Alfred Adler

14. MOTIVATION 2.0
15000/10000 BCE ~ 1950 CE

15. Reward
More of the Behavior
Less of the Behavior
Behavior
Punishment

16. Circa 1940
Important Names: Pavlov, Skinner, Linehan
Behaviorist Theory
“The consequences of an act
affect the probability of its
occurring again.”
-- B.F. Skinner

17. MOTIVATION 2.1
1950 CE ~ 1970 CE

18. Working Conditions
Pay
Job Security
Enjoyment
Achievement
Personal Growth

20. Circa 1950
Important Names: Deming, McGregor, Herzberg
System of Profound Knowledge
(also lots of other names)
“If you want people to do a good
job, give them a good job to do.”
-- Frederick Herzberg

21. ALL THESE MODELS SUCK.

22. STRIKE ONE – EDWARD DECI, 1971

24. 1. Participants assemble 2 configurations
2. Deci leaves to “get a fourth configuration”
3. Secretly watches participants for 8 minutes
What do they do?
Test Control
Day 1 No reward No reward
Day 2 Reward No reward
Day 3 No reward No reward

25. 0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Secondsplayingwithpuzzle
Test Control

26. STRIKE TWO – LEPPER AND GREENE, 1973

27. Now-That
If-Then

28. TWO WEEKS LATER…

29. 0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
14.00%
16.00%
18.00%
20.00%
Percentoftimespentdrawing
Expected Reward No Reward Unexpected Reward

30. STRIKE THREE – GLUCKSBERG, 1964

31. Control Group – No reward
Test Group – $20.00 for the best time and $5 for the top 25%

32. 11.08
7.41
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Minutestosolve
Test Control

33. HUMANS AREN’T JUST IRRATIONAL…
WE’RE PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL.

34. GLUCKSBERG, TAKE TWO

35. Control Group – No reward
Test Group – $20.00 for the best time and $5 for the top 25%

36. 3.67
4.99
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Minutestosolve
Test Control

37. • Structured
• Constrained
• Repetitive
• Designed
• “Solvable”
Tasks
Algorithmic Heuristic
• Unstructured
• Open-ended
• Creative
• Evolving
• “Unsolvable”

38. QUESTION TIME!
WHAT IS “WORK”?

39. “Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and … Play
consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”
– Mark Twain,
“Tom Sawyer”
“Work consists mainly of simple, not particularly interesting,
tasks. The only way to get people to do them is to incentivize
them properly and monitor them carefully.”
– Frederick Winslow Taylor

40. QUESTION TIME!
DO HUMANS FUNDAMENTALLY DISLIKE WORK?

42. Start
$500
Quota
Employee of the
Month
And so on…

43. “All models are wrong but some are useful.”
– George E.P. Box,
“Robustness in the strategy of scientific model building”

44. WHAT’S THE NEW MODEL?

45. MOTIVATION 3.0
1970 CE ~ ?

46. Predictable Change
Algorithmic Behavior
Heuristic Behavior
Extrinsic Stimuli
Intrinsic Stimuli
Extrinsic Stimuli
More/Better of the
Behavior
Less/Worse of the
Behavior

47. EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS APPLIED TO HEURISTIC TASKS
• Increased short-term performance… mostly
• Decreased long-term performance
• The larger the reward, the worse the effects
• Cloud judgement
• Cause myopic thinking
• Narrow both depth and breadth of problem-solving

48. DANIEL PINK’S MODEL - TYPE I AND TYPE X

49. • Motivation 3.0
• Both born and made
• Performs best in the long run
• Renewable resource
• Money is a hygiene factor
• Tend to be internally focused
• Motivation 2.0
• Both born and made
• Performs best in the short run
• Exhaustible resource
• Money is the end goal
• Tend to be externally focused
Type I Type X

50. THE COMPONENTS OF TYPE I

51. Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose
Self-Directed
Devoted to improvement
Connected to a larger goal

52. AUTONOMY
“I CONTROL THAT WHICH I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR.”

53. “Autonomous motivation involves behaving with a full sense of
volition and choice, whereas controlled motivation involves
behaving with the experience of pressure and demand that
comes from forces perceived to be external to the self..”
– Edward L Deci and Richard M Ryan,
“Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic
Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being”

54. THE FOUR TS
Task
Time
Technique
Team

55. “Hire good people and leave them alone.”
– 3M Chairman William McKnight, ~1930-1940

56. MASTERY
“I STRIVE TO EXPLORE AND BECOME BETTER.”

57. MasteryEngagement
Autotelic experiences “Auto” = Self “Telic” = Goal

58. THE THREE LAWS OF MASTERY
Mastery is a Mindset

59. • Intelligence is a fixed trait
Therefore:
• Exertion signifies a personal
limit
• Choosing harder goals risks
failure, which implies less
intelligence
• An “unsolvable” problem
means you should give up
Entity Theory Incremental Theory
• Intelligence is trainable
Therefore:
• Exertion signifies
improvement
• Choosing harder goals
increases your mastery
• An “unsolvable” problem
becomes a guidepost for
learning

60. THE THREE LAWS OF MASTERY
Mastery is a Mindset
Mastery is a Pain

61. “Being a professional is doing the things you love to do on
the days you don’t feel like doing them.”
– Julius Irving

62. THE THREE LAWS OF MASTERY
Mastery is a Mindset
Mastery is a Pain
Mastery is an Asymptote

64. FEEL THE FLOW!

65. PURPOSE
“I WANT MY WORK TO SERVE SOMETHING THAT MATTERS.”

66. Purpose provides a context for mastery and autonomy
Purpose is the “Why?” behind a job
Purpose-oriented goals are better than money-oriented
goals for Type I

67. SO WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THAT?

68. BEWARE IMITATORS!
“Empowerment”
The Oz Principle
Over-focus on “The Team”

69. QUESTION TIME!
DO YOU WANT TO BE?ARE YOU TYPE I?

70. “Passion” “Drive”

71. HOW DO WE PROMOTE TYPE I?

72. TYPE I IS CONTAGIOUS!

73. GENERAL

74. • Use “Now-That” rewards instead of “If-Then” rewards
• Don’t frame traditions or benefits as rewards
• Avoid using policies or quotas to deal with problems
• Offer real feedback alongside praise
• Make your teams “no-competition” zones
• Encourage P2P feedback
• Gather shout-outs from your entire team before an all-hands
• Give a shout-out a little teeth with spot rewards

75. HIRING, FIRING, AND MEASURING

76. • Use the Zappo’s Two Week Trial
• Pay more than average
• Ensure compensation is both internally and externally fair
• Form teams that are diverse – in training, backgrounds,
personalities, etc
• Use performance metrics that are:
• Wide-ranging
• Relevant
• Hard to Game
• Know which employees are which type
• Mixing Type X and Type I can be dangerous
• If you’re committing to Type I… be prepared to let people go

77. AUTONOMY

78. • Implement a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)
• Institute paid time for noncommissioned work
• Google Time
• Hackathons/FedEx days/Company offsites
• “Grouplets”
• Run an anonymous autonomy audit
• Practice relinquishing control
• Involve your team in goal-setting
• Use non-controlling language
• Have “office hours”
• Allow selection of project, or at least task

79. MASTERY

80. • Find and use your team’s Goldilocks Zones
• Drive out fear from your team, especially fear of failure
• Make your feedback emphasize effort, not just talent
• Allow progress at each person’s pace
• When someone gets bored:
• Have them mentor someone else into their role
• Have them take on more challenging tasks
• Remember that secondary skills matter, too

81. PURPOSE

82. • Know your story – as a company, and as a project
• Make sure everyone knows that story
• Allow people to find their own purposes
• Find a balance between purpose-driven and profit-driven
• Animate with purpose, don’t motivate with rewards
• Do good things!

83. THE MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

84. • Use “Now-That” rewards, not “If-Then” rewards
• Avoid using policies to motivate
• Use frequent, real feedback instead of simple praise
• Identify your and your team’s Types
• Use the three components of Type I to motivate them
• Motivate Type X people via algorithmic tasks
• Let Type X people convert at their own pace
• Have a concrete purpose
• Allow for as much autonomy as possible
• Build a culture of mastery
• Aim for diverse teams and allow cross-training

85. ANY QUESTIONS?