The Amazing Race and The Four Drive Model of Motivation

Last night I watched the new season of the television show The Amazing Race. I have been a fan of the show since the beginning and I enjoy watching the team dynamics as the show progresses from Day 1 to the finale. The overall concept is teams of 2 people travel around the world encountering challenges and roadblocks along the way. The end reward is $1,000,000 to the team that wins.

As I watched the different teams interact I noticed that the teams each year can be categorized into different groups. The same types of teams end-up being casted on the show. There are the athletes, newly engaged couple, related couple, oddballs, brainy, older, rocky relationship, etc. I am sure the casting is done primarily to mix up the groups so there is tension, good competition, and some laughter in between the madness of racing around the world.

The other thing I noticed is the Four Drive model of motivation working within the team dynamics.

Acquire and Achieve: Clearly the teams are competing to win a prize, a smacking $1,000,000. Not a small sum of money and one that kicks up the competitive gears when things tart getting tough. In addition, achieving the success of winning the Amazing Race has a sense of accomplishment and notoriety in and of itself.  It is also interesting to watch the individual challenges and the faces of individuals after they are successful – one can actually see the sense of achievement being felt after completing a challenge well. 

Bond and Belong: The teams of 2 people are inherently bonded as they have an established relationship prior to going on the show. The relationships are tested through the various challenges and obstacles met along the competition. Many of the contestants have chosen to go on the show to test their relationship to see if it will withstand the pressure of such a rigorous competition. Some make it through and are stronger because of the experience while others crash and burn without any sign of recovery.  The other piece is the contestants have a sense of belonging to a group of people that have done the Amazing Race before them. It is a shared experience not only with their current competitors but with the ones that have competed before them. A small group of the world’s population and they share an experience that brings them together.

Challenge and Comprehend: The Amazing Race is set up to challenge the contestants mentally and physically. The various roadblocks along the way can be exhausting on top of the fact that they have just traveled half way around the world with little or no sleep. Each day the teams are faced with numerous challenges from the mundane (catching a bus) to the extreme (moving heavy mud around or herding ducks).  This is pushing the mental and physical capabilities of the contestants at every corner. In addition, add in the piece of understanding the norms and behaviors of a different culture it is amazing that the contestants make it out of the airports.

Defend and Define: This drive comes out full force in a competition for $1,000,000. I have seen teams lie, cheat, and manipulate their way to the finish line while others have defined themselves in a different way.  Some teams try and stick to their values of being nice, helping out other teams, and working with an alliance. The teams that take the nice route end-up having a few speed bumps along the way but in the end they learn a lot about what pushes them to their breaking point. How they define who they are as team and how they defend it is fun to watch.

I encourage you to work with the Four Drive model as you watch your favorite television shows and within your day-to-day work environment. You might be surprised to find some of the same ‘characters’ present in your workplace utilizing the four drives to motivate them to the finish line.

Susan

The Rise of Behavioral Economics

This is a very interesting video (albeit a little long) about the rise of behavioral economics and its impact on the economic and political world .  I find this topic fascinating as it helps in understanding some motivational impacts and also the limit of some motivational theories (including the Four Drive Model).  We can all learn from the insights here.

I want to state that while I agree with some of the comments I disagree wholeheartedly with some others.  In particular, I tend to agree with the ideas brought up by Leigh Caldwell and Mike Savage, and pretty much dismiss the conclusions made by Emre Ozendoren.   The idea that by nudging behavior in a way that is deemed more appropriate is in some way totalitarian is utterly preposterous.   It is indeed, in my mind, dismissing the idea that we have choice.  What Emre is missing is that we are already constantly nudged.  The fact that changing the nudge to be something that is going to be more beneficial for society or for individuals is not invasive – it is just a different nudge than the one that is currently going on.

Also, I believe there is a little bit of sophistry going on when the presenters talk about the behavioral economists calling people “irrational.”  The “irrational” component discussed by most behavioral economists does not propose that we are mad or a little cracked, but refers to the fact that we do not always behave in a classic economists’ rational manner.  In other words, emotions come into play and we don’t always optimize our economic well being.  The fact that some of the speakers in this are trying to position the behavioral economists viewpoint as stating people are mad is a little misleading.

All in all – this video raises some good thoughts and sheds some light, I believe, on the juncture of classic economics with the newer thoughts around behavioral economics.  Watch and enjoy!

PS – sorry for the big words – I think the accents got me thinking in a very academic manner…

What type of short-term incentives work best?

I poised the following question to an on-line professional sales group that I’m a member of:

“What type of short term sales incentive rewards work best?  I was wondering what people in the group thought were the best types of short term incentive rewards? Research shows that most people will tend to pick cash but that performance actually is better with non-cash rewards (trips, merchandise, etc…). What are your experiences with this – have you seen a difference in sales results with different types of rewards?”  Within 24 hours I had received 45 responses.  I summarized those 45 responses and created the following summary that I presented back to them.  I thought that this might be interesting post for this blog as well… here is my summary:

Thanks everyone for such great input on this question. Your responses have definitely provided some great insight into what makes an effective short-term incentive. I will attempt to summarize the 45 posts on this so far and would love more feedback in case I’ve missed something.

In general, it appears that most respondents felt that cash is a key part of the overall compensation, but that it is probably NOT the best medium for a short-term program. There is a strong preference for non-cash and recognition type of rewards. As Greg D put it, “Recognition drives as much healthy sales will as money.” As indicated in the question itself, research has shown that non-cash awards typically outperform cash awards in the same incentive program. The general gist from the responses so far seems to support that finding. Dick O said it best when he said, “I can’t remember all of that cash that I’ve won. ..I’ll tell you though, that I remember each time I was recognized.”

There was also a significant emphasis on not having a “one-size fits all” approach and to create individual incentives whenever possible. Dana W summarizes this feeling with “No one incentive is going to work for all people.” Another aspect that was discussed was bringing in others (spouse, family) to the reward. These types of rewards were thought by some to provide “extra” incentive to earn them. Allowing sales person input into the actual award was also mentioned.

A key component to this all was brought up by Tim M and Tom F – that the structure of the incentive is as important or more important than the type of reward offered. On this I would have to agree. In my experience, how the program rules are structured, who is eligible to win (or more importantly believe that they can win), the timing of the incentive, and how results are measured are going to make or break any program. As Tim stated, “…the type of reward has less to do with the success or failure of a contest or incentive than the STRUCTURE and TIMING of the incentive.”

Thanks to everyone for their input – I’d love to have more discussion on this and how incentives can be structured to be more effective moving forward. On an end note, just some of the fun reward offerings that I found interesting: bottle of wine and dinner, time off, give to charitable foundation, becoming a member of a special “club.”

Kurt

Litter Motivation

I am a little dismayed with humanity right now.

I spent last Saturday morning cleaning up my neighborhood.   This is an annual volunteer event that the Whittier Neighborhood association sponsors and we’ve done it for a couple of years now.  In a matter of a little over two hours my wife, my 3 year old, and myself collected three large garbage bags full of litter.  The things that people throw out and leave on the sidewalk and street are amazing.  Obviously there are the cans and bottles, the candy wrappers, fast food wrappers, the old newspapers and magazines.  There were also expired prescription pill boxes (with pills in them), paint cans, CDs, and some items that are used by young lovers in parked cars that get thrown out when done (ewhh….).   But by far the largest number of items I picked up were cigarette butts.  There were literally thousands on the 10 blocks that we had to clean.  I felt like I was walking in an ashtray when I was done.

It all got me thinking – what motivates someone to not litter?  Obviously, it is often easier to just deposit your trash out the window of your car or drop it on the sidewalk – so what makes someone motivated to go to the little extra effort to dispose of trash in a more appropriate place (such as a trash can)?  I think that most of it comes down to the “D Drive” (that is the Drive to Define and Defend).   I’ve written about this before but here is a quick refresher.    The Drive to Define and Defend is about how we defend those things that are important to us when they are in danger – our family, our business, our neighborhood.  It is also about how we define ourselves (i.e., what type of person am I) – thus, I am motivated to do behaviors that are consistent with my personal view of myself or that match the tribe or organization I live in.  Our motivation to not litter then is based on if we believe that our neighborhoods are in danger of being overrun by trash (not literally overrun, although after my Saturday morning experience, who knows…).  Do we look at leaving a candy wrapper or a cigarette butt on the street as not respecting our neighborhood or our world?  Think about the “Don’t Mess With Texas” slogan – did you know that was done originally to reduce litter on the Texas highway system?  And it worked – because it helped define the problem for people and also activated their Drive to Defend.  It was a great campaign that made people realize that to feel proud about Texas, they needed to ensure that they didn’t “mess with it” by littering.  Even the terminology is ripe with defensiveness.

Now if only we could create a “Don’t Mess With Minneapolis” campaign!

While I’m dismayed at the present moment, I’m hopeful that with the revitalization of our neighborhood, that the litter will decrease.  People will feel more pride in living here and take more care of our streets and sidewalks.  That they will feel the pride necessary to defend the neighborhood from trash and cigarette butts.   So please don’t mess with Minneapolis – keep your Butts in the car!

Kurt

Motivational Video

Sometimes we just need a little inspiration.  Enjoy!

BlogCatalog

Motivational gear anyone?

Ok, we have put some fun items (t-shirts, mugs, calendars) out on CafePress – check it out for some fun and whimsical motivational gifts http://www.cafepress.com/ru_motivated