Did you pick up your new iPhone this week? Unless you slept on the street for a couple of days, chances are you will need to wait until supply balances out with demand. Isn’t it fascinating that people take time off work and sleep on the ground outside a store just to obtain a $200 device? Why do people put forth so much effort for so little?
It’s ironic that people sacrifice time and wages, lose sleep, and exert a significant amount of physical effort to obtain a unique possession. People are willing to spend money, buy “apps” (applications), and spend large amounts of time to become experts on such devices. Yet we rarely see this type of passion, energy, and motivation in the workplace to drive results and increase profits. Isn’t the time we spend at work more important and valuable?
Dr. George Odiorne, is a well known management expert known for his concept “Management By Objectives.” What if we spin this concept slightly and implement “Management By Motivation.” What if you create the conditions for motivation in your organization. Like a new gadget, toy, or phone, discover what stimulates a behavior change in people at work. Hint: Everyone is a little different. Organization, productivity, and improvement in profits will increase when individuals discover what excites them. If people get excited and involved in their work like it is the latest and greatest gadget phone, organizations will find it truly amazing as to how they can flourish. There is no doubt that excitement and involvement will make a huge impact on the bottom line of any organization.
As I write this article, I stare at my new phone (the latest and greatest) in a box, ready to be turned on. However, I feel enough motivation in my work that writing this content offers more value to me, my team, and my organization than heading to the break room to play with a new gadget. Are your people motivated to work or motivated to head to the break room and play? Let’s get our people excited and engaged to the goals and objectives that benefits everyone.
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
-Aristotle
When you think of a team, what comes to mind? A basketball, football or soccer team? Or simply a group of professionals working together? Have geese ever come to mind as a working team? My mother once wrote a poem about a flock of geese and simply stated, why they fly together and it reminded me of the saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together.”
