Teresa Amabile continues in her quest to challenge conventional wisdom around creativity and motivation. Although I'm certain that's not her ambition, her research often rejects the shibboleths of creativity and motivation, so much that if her fingerprint is on the research, I'll quickly pick it up.
For example, most execs believe that people come up with their best work when time is tight. Push them and they'll perform better. Amabile found that that's not at all the case. Indeed, when you're under the gun time-wise, you'll think far less creatively.
In yesterday's post on ten breakthrough ideas, I noted that for my business in development and performance improvement, this was the most intriguing.
As the Harvard Business Review summary indicates, Amabile and colleagues completed research over several years and with more than 600 managers. The study tracked the day-to-day activities, emotions, and motivational levels of workers in different settings. Amazingly, the research showed that the top motivator of performance is what the execs considered to be least significant.
Executives thought that recognition for good work was the number one motivating factor. The research showed that the real issue of motivation is progress. In other words, when knowledge workers have the sense that they're making headway in their job, or that they're getting the support necessary for overcoming obstacles, then their drive to succeed is at is most meaningful.
But, when employees feel that they are spinning their wheels or having to deal with roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment, their moods and motives are at the lowest.
The Breakthrough
The good news about this research finding is that the key to motivation turns out to be under the control of the manager. It doesn't depend on elaborate incentive systems. You don't have to spend time trying to figure out what's really inside your employee's black box of a brain.
Here are Amabile's recommendations:
- Take care to clarify goals.
- Ensure that people's efforts are properly supported.
- Keep from exerting time pressure so intense that minor glitches become crises.
The research does reveal that recognition motivates. So celebrate progress, even incremental progresss.