How Will You Measure Chapter 2: What makes us tick? | Incentives vs. Motivation Theories

During our upcoming session this Thursday, we’d be reviewing Chapter 2 of How will you measure your life? by Clayton Christensen. _*What makes us tick? | Incentives vs. Motivation Theories.*_ One of the best ways to probe whether you can trust the advice a theory offers is to look for anomalies -– something the theory cannot explain. Remember [the] story about birds, feathers, and flight? Ostriches have wings and feathers but can’t fly. Bats have wings but no feathers, and they are great fliers. And flying squirrels have neither wings nor feather and they get by … writes Clayton Christensen (paraphrased). While the Incentives Theory would make us believe the best way to maintain goal orientation and interest alignment is to provide incentives –– increase pay! This is often not the case. For instance, it is rare to hear of managers of non-profits or the military complaining about getting their staff is motivated, yet they are some of the hardest-working people on the planet. The answer may lie in Herzberg’s Motivation or Two-Factor Theory. _*Deep Dive*_ Why do people who seemingly have the world at their feet make poor career choices, oftentimes deferring their life aspirations for one more year, to maximize hygiene factors?  We’d dive deeper into Incentive and Motivation theories, and how we could leverage our understanding of these theories to evaluate our own motives to reach better decisions and life outcomes. _*Join us on Zoom*_ https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84684467973 Passcode: Book Date: 7pm PST on Thursday, 7/8