Inspiring and motivating individuals

Becoming a visionary leader

Main topics

• Impact of leadership on team performance

• Effectively communicating a vision

• The importance of non-verbal communication

Selected notes

The course opens with Steve Jobs - Get Much Simpler, Be Really Clear - Sept. 23, 1997 and a discussion on the importance of focusing on the things that the company does well rather than trying to do everything at once.

Another point from the video was that people don’t remember details from adverts, so they should usually focus on the impression rather than selling particular features. In particular, focus on telling people why you do what you do (cf. “here’s to the crazy ones").

Corporate mission statements are often vague and don’t really communicate the organization’s purpose. Examples given include Coca-Cola ("To refresh the world... To inspire moments of optimism and happiness... To create value and make a difference.") and Enron. People pay attention to your actions more than your words.

Three key questions:

• Why do we do what we do?

• What does success look like?

• How should we act to ensure success?

The first assessment was applying these questions to your own team. I felt that other people’s answers were too generic, leaving me with no idea of what their teams actually did (cf. Coca-Cola’s “create value and make a difference”), but after marking other people's, I think my initial answers probably weren't sufficiently values-based.

A power-posing study was discussed that I'm pretty certain has failed to replicate.

Setting effective goals and expectations

Main topics

• Impact of goal difficulty on performance

• Why goals can improve performance

• Risks associated with stretch goals

• Setting SMART goals

• Downsides of SMART goals

• Making goals meaningful

• The importance of autonomy and skill variety

Selected notes

More challenging goals are generally a good thing, but only if the person with the goal accepts the goal, otherwise they can backfire.

Goals can direct effort and attention, improve motivation, increase persistence of effort, and encourage people to discover new strategies. If they're too aggressive though, they can lead to dissatisfaction and unethical behaviour.

SMART goals can emphasize the tactical over the strategic. They can also lead to tunnel vision and reductions in learning and creativity.

It’s important to make goals meaningful and allow employees to see the impact of their work. Contact with end users can aid motivation (e.g., university fundraising callers meeting scholarship recipients).

Goals can be more motivating when there is autonomy in how they are accomplished and when a range of skills can be used in accomplishing them. An example was given of a circular production line, which not only increases task variety but also allows all employees to see the final product.

The advice was given to rotate people every three years as being in a role for longer than that can lead to a decrease in motivation, though no source was cited.

Understanding human needs and drivers of performance across cultures

Main topics

• Rates of disengagement among employees and how this differs by country

• Models of human motivation

• Similarity of values across cultures

• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators

• Creating meaning at work

• Downsides of meaningful work

• Misconceptions about motivation

Selected notes

A 2013 Gallup poll found that the majority of people are not engaged at work and that fewer people were engaged than actively disengaged, though this varied by country, with those in North America and Australasia the most engaged and those in Asia and Africa the least. The course didn't discuss whether the regional variation could be partly explained by differences in how people answer surveys, but the overall pattern looked plausible.

The factors explaining job satisfaction (motivators such as achievement, recognition, and the work itself) and job dissatisfaction (hygiene factors such as bureaucracy and bad managers) tend to be different.

There was some fairly standard stuff on how intrinsic rewards are more motivating the extrinsic rewards and how extrinsic rewards can decrease motivation in some cases, but it also discussed how indirect extrinsic rewards can increase motivation.

An example was given of zookeepers about how people can feel trapped by meaningful work with bad hygiene factors.

Motivation traps:

• Assuming that others are like you in terms of values, needs, etc.

• Failing to align rewards with desired outcomes (extrinsic rewards work well for quantity, intrinsic for quality)

• Aligning rewards to each individual’s values without considering fairness/social comparison

Aligning rewards and behaviour

Main topics

• The importance of equity

• The importance of making sure that the behaviour that you’re rewarding is the behaviour that you want

• Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment

• The downsides of punishment and the situations where it works best

• Fixed vs. variable reinforcement schedules

• Functions of performance appraisals

• Factors that can make appraisals less effective

• How to provide negative feedback

• How to seek feedback proactively

Selected notes

The video of capuchin monkeys given different rewards was quite fun.

An example was given of a company that raised everyone's pay to a minimum level, which hurt morale as employees that were performing poorly tended to receive larger increases than those that were performing well.

Punishment can worsen morale, negatively impacting performance. It should be applied to discreet behaviours and applied straight away, accompanied by clear communication. In most cases, positive reinforcement is more effective.

A variable reinforcement schedule can be more effective than one using fixed intervals (cf. slot machines).

It may be useful to separate evaluation from development in appraisals (e.g., though holding two separate meetings) so that negative feedback doesn’t distract from development.

Negative feedback should be specific and focus on behaviours rather than personality. It is important to confirm that the feedback has been understood. Sugarcoating tends to be a bad idea (cf. illusion of transparency). Positive reinforcement should be used when the desired changes are observed.