Great question…right? I have often thought about our need, society’s need for money. Why is it that people risk so much, for the sake of money? They risk their reputations, their careers, their relationships, their sense of right and wrong for….money. But, does money motivate, or just the need for money to buy what you think you want or need motivate?
Years before we really knew what money was…we used to barter for what we wanted. Trappers would trade their animal skins for food, guns, clothing, etc. and the early settlers would trade their crops, their home- made bread, canned goods, etc. for what they needed in order to grow more crops, buy machinery, etc. for the next harvest. People actually helped each other with their farms, their livestock, their barns…remember they used to have “barn raisings”…and it was a gathering of all the local farmers, their children, and their wives. The “men” raised the barn while the women and young children put a “feast” together to celebrate after the barn was constructed. Was money involved? Maybe it was…I just don’t recall any real discussion about it.
So, what’s changed? Does money motivate or does it “buy” the stuff that we think is important, that we feel we need, that society, and yes, our advertising dollars have decided to promote. Our economic engine, to create a need/want, fill it, and then create another need/want is an amazing cycle. Manufacturers love it, consumers are dependent on it, and our capitalistic society has been built on it. I’m not knocking it, I happen to rely on it…otherwise I wouldn’t have a business. But, I want to explore what it is that really motivates, what it is that makes us jump out of bed in the morning, what it is that drives us to succeed at our jobs, our careers, our professions.
I’ve studied the theories, and read the books on motivation. I’ve come to the conclusion that we need to feel good, to feel comfortable in our ability to provide for our families, to have a nice home, a warm meal on the table, clothes on our backs…and more clothes in our closets, and the ability to save and be secure in knowing that we have a little extra put away for a rainy day. Money allows us to purchase the things necessary to accomplish all these things. Without enough money we start to feel nervous, uncomfortable…we start to worry, and wonder what will happen to our way of life.
Think about it, right now in America there are millions of people unemployed. Their last paycheck might have been months or even a year or two ago. They may have gone through some, if not all, of their savings to keep food on the table, and their families with a roof over their heads. So, now does money motivate?
The need for money to provide has become more and more prevalent in the past few years. Fear of losing what you have, not getting, or fear of the unknown creates a sense of “hoarding”…it creates scarcity…..and the more we worry that we won’t have enough, the more we perpetuate these scarcity behaviors. So, money becomes the focus, money…and getting more of it becomes the drive, the most urgent need….but, dare I say…it does not motivate…it is simply a means to an end, a necessary tool, a measurement of our value. We’ve arbitrarily decided what an hour’s work is worth…minimum wage. If you’re paid more for an hour’s work…good for you, you either have a nicer employer, more expertise, or what you do is regarded by society to be worth more. Do you really think a pro basketball player is worth more than a high school chemistry teacher? Well, in our society, apparently so…because their pay for performance is quite different.
I agree with Herzberg’s thoughts concerning Hygiene (Maintenance) Factors…factors surrounding your job, your position, your ability to provide, and then Motivating Factors….factors that come from within, factors that involve how we view ourselves, our relationships, our sense of belonging, our sense of esteem and feelings around respect and pursuing our true talents. They might even be the difference between what some psychologists call “extrinsic” motivators and “intrinsic” motivators. It’s always been believed that the intrinsic factors are the true motivators…they are the factors that “move us” to accomplish our goals. They create the “drive” in all of us. We all have the need for love, affection, belonging, respect, esteem, admiration, and yes, the need to be all that we can be…sounds like the army doesn’t it.
But, here’s the rub….for us to concentrate on these “higher” level needs…and really set goals to accomplish the things we all would love to accomplish…we need to feel “satisfied” at least somewhat satisfied in the “lower” level needs…the “hygiene” needs…..and this I’m afraid is where “money” sits. Money becomes the means to an end. It becomes the tool that allows us to buy the food, pay for our homes, feel secure financially and physically. And work?….well work is what we do, what we produce, that has value. We create value that is worth something…and when what we produce is worth something to someone else…we get paid for it…and that payment (usually in the form of money) is our reward. The more we produce stuff that other’s like, that creates value, that is deemed worthwhile, well, we continue to be paid based on what the market decides it is worth.
This is how it’s been for decades…centuries. Now, what society deems has value today and what we thought had value decades ago has obviously changed. Who would have thought that millions of people would want to watch a “reality” show with 8 kids screaming and yelling for an hour while their parents played around…and not necessarily with each other. Or be so obsessed with a teenager and her boyfriend that decided to have a child before getting married…and now, is shopping their story around Hollywood to display their relationship and their family on National TV!…but, hey, I guess if it sells…they’ll become rich and famous.
But, does money motivate us? As in the case above…once you obtain enough money to provide for your family and do the things you think are important to you…buy the boats, the homes, the jewelry, etc…then, the importance that we place on money wanes….it no longer is needed to buy the things we want…we have enough money to satisfy our cravings.( Money doesn’t buy happiness.) But, if we ever got to that point where we started losing what we have…then the need for money will resurface. Think about all the people that have lost their savings, their retirement savings in the stock market. All they talk about is money, the lack of it, the need for it, what they can’t do anymore, and how they will have to manage/live without it. Money for this group of people is front and center in their lives. They will focus on this “hygiene” factor until it is satisfied enough for them to move into the higher need levels….where true motivation comes from.
We can’t motivate people…but, we can set the conditions for others to motivate themselves. Ultimately, people want to feel good about themselves. What they contribute, who they are, what they know, and have others look up to them, esteem them, respect them. That’s why simply using the incentive of money to solve problems, to achieve a sales target, to recruit the best talent…doesn’t always work. If a person is at a different place in their life…no longer worried about the “hygiene” factors…then money won’t motivate…then, you have to appeal to their higher sense of belonging, esteem, and accomplishment. Power, Achievement, Affiliation…are all motives in each of us…which one is more predominant depends on the person…where they are in their quest to move up the hierarchy of needs.
I’ve always been fascinated by what “motivates”. My best advice is that each person is unique…and it doesn’t matter if you label us the Baby Boomers, Gen X or Gen Y….each one of us is on our own quest to accomplish great things. What’s really important is get to know each other… find out where each person is on their road to self actualization…..chances are what they really want isn’t money at all….it’s the chance to show their stuff, to feel in on things, to be recognized, to feel worthwhile. Isn’t that what each of us really wants….to know that what we are doing every minute of every day is valued…is worthwhile, has purpose and is making this world a better place. And money…well, it will always be there, it will always be used to measure, but to motivate…no, I get out of bed for a different reason.
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Is Money a Motivator?
Great question…right? I have often thought about our need, society’s need for money. Why is it that people risk so much, for the sake of money? They risk their reputations, their careers, their relationships, their sense of right and wrong for….money. But, does money motivate, or just the need for money to buy what you think you want or need motivate?
Years before we really knew what money was…we used to barter for what we wanted. Trappers would trade their animal skins for food, guns, clothing, etc. and the early settlers would trade their crops, their home- made bread, canned goods, etc. for what they needed in order to grow more crops, buy machinery, etc. for the next harvest. People actually helped each other with their farms, their livestock, their barns…remember they used to have “barn raisings”…and it was a gathering of all the local farmers, their children, and their wives. The “men” raised the barn while the women and young children put a “feast” together to celebrate after the barn was constructed. Was money involved? Maybe it was…I just don’t recall any real discussion about it.
So, what’s changed? Does money motivate or does it “buy” the stuff that we think is important, that we feel we need, that society, and yes, our advertising dollars have decided to promote. Our economic engine, to create a need/want, fill it, and then create another need/want is an amazing cycle. Manufacturers love it, consumers are dependent on it, and our capitalistic society has been built on it. I’m not knocking it, I happen to rely on it…otherwise I wouldn’t have a business. But, I want to explore what it is that really motivates, what it is that makes us jump out of bed in the morning, what it is that drives us to succeed at our jobs, our careers, our professions.
I’ve studied the theories, and read the books on motivation. I’ve come to the conclusion that we need to feel good, to feel comfortable in our ability to provide for our families, to have a nice home, a warm meal on the table, clothes on our backs…and more clothes in our closets, and the ability to save and be secure in knowing that we have a little extra put away for a rainy day. Money allows us to purchase the things necessary to accomplish all these things. Without enough money we start to feel nervous, uncomfortable…we start to worry, and wonder what will happen to our way of life.
Think about it, right now in America there are millions of people unemployed. Their last paycheck might have been months or even a year or two ago. They may have gone through some, if not all, of their savings to keep food on the table, and their families with a roof over their heads. So, now does money motivate?
The need for money to provide has become more and more prevalent in the past few years. Fear of losing what you have, not getting, or fear of the unknown creates a sense of “hoarding”…it creates scarcity…..and the more we worry that we won’t have enough, the more we perpetuate these scarcity behaviors. So, money becomes the focus, money…and getting more of it becomes the drive, the most urgent need….but, dare I say…it does not motivate…it is simply a means to an end, a necessary tool, a measurement of our value. We’ve arbitrarily decided what an hour’s work is worth…minimum wage. If you’re paid more for an hour’s work…good for you, you either have a nicer employer, more expertise, or what you do is regarded by society to be worth more. Do you really think a pro basketball player is worth more than a high school chemistry teacher? Well, in our society, apparently so…because their pay for performance is quite different.
I agree with Herzberg’s thoughts concerning Hygiene (Maintenance) Factors…factors surrounding your job, your position, your ability to provide, and then Motivating Factors….factors that come from within, factors that involve how we view ourselves, our relationships, our sense of belonging, our sense of esteem and feelings around respect and pursuing our true talents. They might even be the difference between what some psychologists call “extrinsic” motivators and “intrinsic” motivators. It’s always been believed that the intrinsic factors are the true motivators…they are the factors that “move us” to accomplish our goals. They create the “drive” in all of us. We all have the need for love, affection, belonging, respect, esteem, admiration, and yes, the need to be all that we can be…sounds like the army doesn’t it.
But, here’s the rub….for us to concentrate on these “higher” level needs…and really set goals to accomplish the things we all would love to accomplish…we need to feel “satisfied” at least somewhat satisfied in the “lower” level needs…the “hygiene” needs…..and this I’m afraid is where “money” sits. Money becomes the means to an end. It becomes the tool that allows us to buy the food, pay for our homes, feel secure financially and physically. And work?….well work is what we do, what we produce, that has value. We create value that is worth something…and when what we produce is worth something to someone else…we get paid for it…and that payment (usually in the form of money) is our reward. The more we produce stuff that other’s like, that creates value, that is deemed worthwhile, well, we continue to be paid based on what the market decides it is worth.
This is how it’s been for decades…centuries. Now, what society deems has value today and what we thought had value decades ago has obviously changed. Who would have thought that millions of people would want to watch a “reality” show with 8 kids screaming and yelling for an hour while their parents played around…and not necessarily with each other. Or be so obsessed with a teenager and her boyfriend that decided to have a child before getting married…and now, is shopping their story around Hollywood to display their relationship and their family on National TV!…but, hey, I guess if it sells…they’ll become rich and famous.
But, does money motivate us? As in the case above…once you obtain enough money to provide for your family and do the things you think are important to you…buy the boats, the homes, the jewelry, etc…then, the importance that we place on money wanes….it no longer is needed to buy the things we want…we have enough money to satisfy our cravings.( Money doesn’t buy happiness.) But, if we ever got to that point where we started losing what we have…then the need for money will resurface. Think about all the people that have lost their savings, their retirement savings in the stock market. All they talk about is money, the lack of it, the need for it, what they can’t do anymore, and how they will have to manage/live without it. Money for this group of people is front and center in their lives. They will focus on this “hygiene” factor until it is satisfied enough for them to move into the higher need levels….where true motivation comes from.
We can’t motivate people…but, we can set the conditions for others to motivate themselves. Ultimately, people want to feel good about themselves. What they contribute, who they are, what they know, and have others look up to them, esteem them, respect them. That’s why simply using the incentive of money to solve problems, to achieve a sales target, to recruit the best talent…doesn’t always work. If a person is at a different place in their life…no longer worried about the “hygiene” factors…then money won’t motivate…then, you have to appeal to their higher sense of belonging, esteem, and accomplishment. Power, Achievement, Affiliation…are all motives in each of us…which one is more predominant depends on the person…where they are in their quest to move up the hierarchy of needs.
I’ve always been fascinated by what “motivates”. My best advice is that each person is unique…and it doesn’t matter if you label us the Baby Boomers, Gen X or Gen Y….each one of us is on our own quest to accomplish great things. What’s really important is get to know each other… find out where each person is on their road to self actualization…..chances are what they really want isn’t money at all….it’s the chance to show their stuff, to feel in on things, to be recognized, to feel worthwhile. Isn’t that what each of us really wants….to know that what we are doing every minute of every day is valued…is worthwhile, has purpose and is making this world a better place. And money…well, it will always be there, it will always be used to measure, but to motivate…no, I get out of bed for a different reason.
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