Dan Pink in his 2009 book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us stated that Motivation is a result of three elements. It’s when people have Autonomy, are gaining Mastery, and have a sense of Purpose. You don’t need clever HR initiatives, new CM systems, or fancy mission statement changes to keep employees motivated. What you need is better communication and that’s at the core of a social organization. In a social organization:
We are reminded of our PURPOSE constantly when we can see how what we do matters; when we see the connection our work has to a co-worker or the bottom line. Open social connection makes purpose obvious.
We grow in MASTERY when we learn continuously. Learning is about experience, practice, conversation, and reflection. Sharing what we do and how we do it with others helps us grow incrementally. Conversations serve as open reflection, building important context around new ideas, informing the work we do.
AUTONOMY is about choice. When we have easy access to others and we can share what we want with anyone, we have autonomy… we have freedom. When we can give, receive and connect with anyone at any level, opportunities arise that otherwise never would have in more closed systems.
A social organization creates an environment that is inherently motivating because choice, growth, and meaning are inherently social.
