What's in it for me

If you scroll down a bit you will see a section on the right hand side that has a few flippant sayings and decoders of things I occasionally say.  One of them is WIIFM, what’s in it for me, which I claim is the key to motivation.  Someone wrote in and basically told me I was full of it, because if people only did things that were best for them the world would be a shallow, greedy place.  In that context I absolutely agree.  But you’re missing the point…

Motivation is a tricky business.  What motivates some is a downer for others.  What works today fails miserably tomorrow.  There is no sure thing.  There has been a lot written about it by folks with more pedigree than me, and they probably know what they are talking about (except for Lou Holtz).  I’ll sum up many pages and many dollars worth of writing in one simple sentence:

Know your people.

Piece of cake, right? 

Back when Bill Parcells coached the Giants, I saw footage (NFL Films is a wondrous thing but I can't find it on Youtube) of him walking among his players before a game as they were all stretching out.  As he passed each one he had something to say.  “Did you see the paper?  They said you’re too old,” he said to one. 

“You’re in the best condition of your life,” he said to another.  “You’re going to explode on [the other team]”

“If you don’t play well today I’m going to let [the second stringer] have more plays.”

And another: “[The quarterback] is counting on you to protect him.  Be mean out there.”

I got the feeling then (and obviously it struck a chord because I still remember it) that he knew every one of those guys, and he knew exactly what buttons to push.  And his tone – it wasn’t some kind of rah-rah speech.  It was conversational, each and every one. 

If you know your people then you know what they are in it for.  Pride motivates people.  Challenge motivates people.  Sure, recognition.  Fear, absolutely.

Know what doesn’t?  Money.  Money is a de-motivator for those who do not get what they feel they deserve.  (See this excellent video that goes with a talk by Daniel Pink).

If they are getting what they feel they should, it will neither spur them to greater heights nor drown them in a whirlpool of bile.

I have a funny habit of relating these things back to me.  I’m getting predictable.  Anyway…

I be many mistakes in motivation .  Many, many.  I thought that money would be a huge factor, because (for the supervisors at least) they all talk about their toys on Monday morning, and these guys don’t play with cheap toys.  $400 drivers (ouch fore!).  $4000 snow machines (they use maybe six months per year!).  And my favorite – the empty nester supervisor just spent an astounding $6500 reconditioning and upgrading the engine to his ’55 Chevy.  I thought these guys would bust their butts to get the enhancement bonus so they’d have more Benjamins to play with.  Nope – they couldn’t have cared less, and they made it obvious.  So obvious, in fact, that it made me doubt it was happening.  I wrote it off (and this part is typical of managers at my place of work) and decided they weren’t smart enough to figure out the cause and effect.  Work harder, get bonus – simple concept.  Doesn’t work in this paradigm.  I do have a genuine respect and admiration for the guys and I realized that they are acting perfectly rationally (in this respect anyway).  Most of them already work about as hard as they want to – the amp doesnot go to eleven.  We’d have to offer them a LOT more money, and we’d burn them out in the process.  They aren’t interested in promotion (and what does that tell you about MY job!).  I was flummoxed.

Given some time for reflection (hard enough to do nowadays) I figured out that I already knew the answer.  I saw Parcells, years ago.  He knew his people.  He was (and likely is) a better amateur psychologist that I, but I can try.  One also needs to bear in mind it is easier to motivate 53 or so football players for 19 games than it is to inspire nine used-to-be mechanics 4 or 5 days per week.

So what did I deduce?  We have a supervisor who loves to hear that he was praised to the mgmt team.  He’d run across a frozen lake in the nude if it would get attention from my bosses on up.  He doesn’t particularly like to be praised in front of his peers, though.  Big demotivator.  We have another who sees himself as the junior member of the group and will do anything to have the rest regard him as an equal.  All I have to do is hint that he’s somehow not as good as the rest and he’ll eat glass to prove me wrong.  One more?  One of our senior guys just loves to give me advice and likes it even more when I use it.  Even if I came up with the idea myself, I give him credit.

But of course all you came up with the same stuff, and probably more.  Just remember that WIIFM is not bad – it is the key to motivation.  You just need to figure out who the “me” is…