Intrinsic Motivators

This animatic from Dan Pink is a great example of story telling AND delivers an awesome message that we love at Resonant Insights. In short, the rules of what motivates information workers have changed and each of us are responsible for how we embrace (or not) these changes.

Captain of My Soul

First, the disclaimer -- I am not a sports fan of any flavor and when I see an inspiring sports story, I love it! Just watched "Invictus" - read the synopsis on the movie site to get the story. The main piece that hit me was the poem by William Ernest Henley, whowrote it from his hospital bed. His indomitable spirit led him to triumph over the amputation of his leg. This poem was an inspiration for Nelson Mandela and I am grateful for the movie to make me aware of these powerful words.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

Wow! The power to believe in change. The power to believe the impossible is possible. The power to stay the course despite the odds. The power to believe in one self.

I highly encourage you to watch the film if you haven't.

Goddess TINA

Folks, my sister's book, "Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom" is finally available in the US. Consider ordering it TODAY via Amazon. Her timing couldn't be better with our continuing global financial crisis. The book is full of interviews with people who are seeing things differently. They are not assuming that "There Is No Alternative" (TINA) as Margaret Thatcher was frequently quoted as saying. Frankly, TINA thinking is as dated as thinking the world is flat (before the NEW "World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman came out).

Here is an old article my sister wrote in 2001 that is still very relevant. She also covers this phenomenon and story in her book - order it today! :) (Yes, I'm shameless about promoting my sister).

The Market as God
The striving for alternatives is nascent in the current clamour against the dominant free-market form of globalisation, writes Rajni Bakshi

May 2001 - "God and markets are not usually thought about together. Yet here is a proposition that links the two. "The market is a good that has been turned into a god - and that is a problem," says David Jenkins, retired Bishop of Durham in the United Kingdom. Jenkins is one of those rare souls who stand at the core of the establishment and yet manage to challenge it sharply from within. Through the 1980s he was famous for criticising the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for her economic and social policies. He was intellectually intrigued and morally bothered by what he came to think of as the "Goddess TINA". For, Thatcher never tired of pronouncing that "You cannot buck the markets. There Is No Alternative (TINA)."

Over the last decade, the power of "Goddess TINA" appears to have become even more entrenched. The currently dominant model of globalisation is rooted in the principles of free market. Yet, today, there is also a global chorus of voices arguing that the rule of the market, as it is currently defined, is socially and morally unacceptable. As Jenkins says: "If we can make the market our servant, then the possibilities are immense ... but the present form of market flourishes largely at other people's expense."

The search for alternatives includes a wide range of people from all walks of life in countries across the world. For example, David Jenkins recently led an intensive exercise in exploring the question "Market: Master or Servant?", at Schumacher College. This College is an International Centre for Ecological Studies, located near Totnes in Devon, U.K. Its three week courses cover vital contemporary issues, are led by some of most innovative thinkers of our times and attended by a wide variety of people."

Fun Can Change Behavior

I love this initiative from VW - www.thefuntheory.com. Make sure to watch a few of the videos that provide examples of how we can all have fun AND create positive change. Being a parent of three little ones, I love this example the most:

Innovation in Education

This is a must watch talk. I would love comments on the many perspectives that emerge from this message, before I add my 2 cents!

Life is Binary

As much as I am all about different perspectives on any issue, in the end I (you) have to choose. It comes down to a "Yes" or "No." If you dig deep enough, just about anything is binary. The sooner I can grapple with that and quit hiding behind the grey areas, I have clarity and the conviction to move forward. Grey is equivalent to a stuck part of me. A part that hides, suppresses or denies the truth of what I desire. Once I have that clarity - then the choice of yes or no is far easier.

Remember, it's not about the choice being right or wrong, it's simply what we make of it. Those times when I regret a choice is the time to rethink not the choice as that was simply an opportunity to learn. I need to examine why the regret? What in me judges that decision and then carries the regret with me.

I invite you to consider what areas of your life are in a "parking lot," neither decided, nor willing to decide. Consider applying the Sedona Method and asking these 3 simple, yet not easy, questions:

1. Could I make this decision?
2. Would I make this decision?
3. When will I make this decision?

The first "could" is usually easy enough. The "would" question is where it gets difficult and the ego kicks in. The final question of when must almost always be NOW. Why wait? If it's important enough and it's on your mind - just get it done. What's the worst that can happen? You get to do it differently next time.

Be You. All 100% of You.

As social human-beings, it is this man's belief that we adapt to our environment in ways that are beyond our own recognition. How quickly are our five and four year old girls learning this and so is our two year old son. What is "right" and "wrong." What they "should" do vs. "want" to do, etc. Regardless of how I or my wife try, we will leave a stamp of how one "should" be in the world. I am sad about that AND recognize I can only do my best, my 100%.

That is the essence of the concept of 100% at Resonant Insights. An individual, team or company can only do their best, THEIR best. It's not about matching or even bettering another company's effort, it's about giving those gifts to the world that are unique to the individual, team or company. No one else can replicate it just the same way.

Gone are the days of the cookie-cutter manufacturing line. Yes there's still a lot of mass production and there's tons of choice. Each brand and choice is unique even though it might come very close to the other. Why is it we don't recognize that for ourselves, the human-being? Each one of us are a unique expression. Accept and relax in it and relish the preciousness that you are - 100% of the time. You are the only You there is. No one on this planet has the same DNA, the exact same thoughts, the exact same experiences that you have and are having. Stop the comparing, criticizing condemning those that are different than you - as we are all different. That's what makes life so fun and alive! May we learn and grow together!

True Motivation

I love these findings that Dan Pink covers in his TED talk and this very cool animatic presentation. In short - for simple straight forward tasks, the carrots and sticks incentives are outstanding. Yet when you are in a thinking work environment, the information worker environment most of us play in, carrots and sticks are a disincentive. Instead, it is intrinsic motivators that generates results and great innovation that sticks. His 3 key recommendations are:

- Autonomy: e.g. 24 hours to work on anything you want and then share your insight
- Mastery: e.g. great minds tackle hard challenges for free, for a contribution
- Purpose: e.g. serving for something bigger than yourself

How does this show up in your organization? Is there an appetite for such approaches? What can you do today to take control of your part in living this way, if you choose to?

Oxygen Mask

In my upcoming book- "The 101% You: Seven Steps to Living the Success You Deserve" I provide questions and exercises to experience being, doing and having all the success you deserve. You will learn the importance of you owning 100% of who you are, just the way you are, and then some more.

For those concerned about the focus on “you” as ego-centered – consider this metaphor to understand the intent of this focus: you are on an airplane and you hear the safety announcement: “If the oxygen mask drops, adults put your mask on first and then assist children and others.” That’s the concept of healthy "me first." You are no good to your children and others if you die in the process of helping them first. Keep this metaphor in mind, in case you start to feel Resonant Insights is heavily focused on You- that is the intention and we are 101% devoted to your success!

Remember, your success is as close to you as your breath.

Start with Being

Ever since the Industrial Age, we reward a DO-HAVE-BE culture. When you DO the hard work, then you'll HAVE the promotion/money to BE happy. Instead, there are many that are seeing the benefits of starting with the end desired outcome in mind. The goal of all humans is to be happy and satisfied. That's how we define success at Resonant Insights. When you are BEING the best you can be, DOING what resonates with your purpose - you will HAVE what you desire and more. It all starts with your being clear about what you want.

This is a founding principle in launching Resonant Insights. We enable leaders, individual contributors and teams to get clear about their end state - their intention, their being state. We invite our clients to hold Big High Audacious Intentions (BHAI). Once their is clarity about that end desired state - the how to get there, the doing starts to fall in place. Once your doing actions are in alignment with your being-state, then having what you desire comes with ease.

Share your stories of experiencing the two approaches and how they feel for you. Would you rather live in a DO-HAVE-BE state of mind or in a BE-DO-HAVE one?