Currencies (On Motivating Different People) | Hacker News Reader

Currencies (On Motivating Different People)

edbatista.com

33 pointskiyanwang6 comments

I'm seeing cynical comments here. There's actually value here.

For example, "Vision: A compelling view of the company's future and a description of how someone could contribute to its accomplishment.". Does your org do that? I've been places that do, and places that don't, and as a non-leader it's really nice to know what I'm actually working toward.

And "Gratitude: Expressions of appreciation in the form of thanks, deference, or a recognition of indebtedness.". I've been places where leaders don't say thanks, and where they send a handwritten card. It makes a difference.

I’ve also worked at both types of places and agree on both paragraphs.

Working at a place that has a compelling vision that everyone can articulate makes a huge difference. Even better when the vision actually lines up with how the company is currently operating and is a believable goal. Even better when a leadership team brings real customer stories and focuses on the actual human impact of the company, instead of just sales figures and MAU.

We all know we’re here to make money, but it’s a lot more fun when you legitimately believe in what you do.

And as a side note, if leadership isn’t providing this, go seek this information out. Investigate who the company sells to, and why. Look for information about the human outcomes it enables. You’ll either find reasons to believe in what you do, or motivation to find a place that gives you those reasons.

I’ve worked with people who seem completely unaware of the bigger picture behind the company/product, and who seem content if not determined to stay unaware, while grumbling about the inanity of their jobs.

That’s all great but what most companies lack is an actual currency system. A universal medium of exchange that can be exchanged for goods and services.

Often you need help from another group but your group isn’t in a position to barter 1:1 so you need to be able to have some sort of universal currency to exchange with. So many great projects and improvements die because you simply can’t offer anything the other party values and setting up 3 or 4 way trades is incredibly difficult.

> If you're a leader seeking to increase employees' motivation, what can you do? ... [leadership should] articulate a set of principles

employee motivation changes when there is a concrete change, not an "articulation" of a change. It just takes a while for the next sucker to realize that it's nothing but an articulation.

The actual quote without the ellipsis is:

> If you're a leader seeking to increase employees' motivation, what can you do? Leadership experts Allan Cohen and David Bradford offer some suggestions. [4] In Influence Without Authority they articulate a set of principles and frameworks to support the development of stronger working relationships and more effective collaboration.

Your comment is irrelevant to the actual article. You are responding to a straw man of your own invention.

People are just pack mules and can be treated as such.

How odd we are.

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