The Truth About What Motivates Us - Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose

[Bryan Hancock]

Some folks were waxing philosophical-like about the nature of man in another thread on war and what it is good for. I am a big believer in the fact that people are rational self-maximizers in virtually all endeavors. One of my good friends shared the following video with me several months ago and I found it as fascinating as it was entertaining:

The surprising truth about what motivates us

You should invest some time watching the video, but the Reader's Digest version is that people are motivated by:

1. Autonomy
2. Mastery
3. Purpose

in the new economy.

What are your thoughts on this? I tend to agree with it. I also discard the notion that man is inherently evil and has an "urge" to kill his fellow man. I think that it has more to do with man wanting to maximize his share and the tension ultimately bubbles up and manifests itself in war and other forms of brutality.

[Aaron McGinnis]

I hate to go all first-year HR student on you, so maybe I'll go all Tocqueville on you.

Self Interest Rightly Understood.

Or -

Self actualization.

Ultimately, people want what is best for themselves. At the most basic level, this is food, clothing, shelter, and sex. Maybe not in that order.

Beyond that, people want to self actualize. People need to feel like they have a purpose, a reason for being, and a mission in life. The old axe - someone with a job to do tends to outlive someone without a job to do.

The need to self actualize manifests itself differently for different people. People who are steered towards self employment tend to self actualize through the control over their own selves. It isn't about the money... god knows I can name plenty of people who stay in various businesses despite being poor and having virtually no income. It isn't about fame, or sex appeal. It is about doing something you have control over.

To wit - I feel more in common with the independent guy who chooses to wake up every morning and perform menial labor for me than I do with the average cube slave. The guy doing the menial labor may not be the most intelligent person, but he probably feels a great sense of pride over being economically owned by no man but himself.

The cube slave, on the other hand, trades his time and self direction for a pay check and a false sense of job security. His comfort is dressing the same as everyone else, performing a predictable job function, and being doled out a sum of money that probably didn't have anything to do with his actual performance.

Indeed, the beheld man barely owns himself. He does not own the fruits of his labor, and he does not own his failure. Unless he should fail greatly, he probably will not be terminated from his position. Should he, however, the next job is probably not far along and the next chance isn't too hard to come by. McDonald's is always hiring.

The self employed, however, cast their time and effort on the desert of risk every single day. Nothing is assured. No one will pay me if I don't perform today. My bills will pile up, and if I do not self-motivate and self-start, I will surely perish on the alter of economic prosperity.

In exchange, I get the privilege of bending my every waking moment, my will, my talent, and my inadequacies toward the measure of myself as my own economic and personal master. Should I fail, the failure is mine alone. Should I succeed, the success belongs only to me.

Many of the people I work with who are self-owned make a conscience decision - often to their own economic detriment. Many of them would (and have) rather live in a van down by the river than take a regular job and become owned.

Could they make more money trading their selves for a paycheck? Yes - most certainly. These people tend to be talented, creative, and exceptionally sharp in their respective fields of expertise. They would also often say that the very nature of their professional lives, as un-kept workers, is what makes them sharp. The invisible hand absolutely ensures that the inadequate rarely succeed. There is no place for half-assing, and those that do rarely stand the test of time.

So what is the point, asked the OP... The point is for people to realize their fullest selves. How they become the pinnacle of themselves often manifests itself through their work.

Make no mistake, there's no shame in working for someone else. Some people are simply Indians, and not Chiefs of the self. They're happy and they like it that way - transparent, daily uncertainty is not their way and they don't want it to be. I know plenty of people who find comfort in the cube, the daily routine, and the grind. That's just who they are. No shame in it, different people are different.

As for me, I'll take the Arena, thank you very much.