Picture the scene. There's an old man who lives by himself
in a house at the end of a cul-de-sac. More than anything
else in life this old man values his privacy and peace and
quiet. He lives a hermit-like existence and if he had his
way would have nothing to do with the rest of the world.
He wakes one day to the sound of three small boys playing
football in the street just outside his house. There not
being yobbish in any way, but it's a warm day in the school
holidays and they're having fun and making noise.
We might expect that the old man would react to this by
storming out of the house, waving his arms in the air and
swearing profusely, but this old man - who knows a thing or
two about motivation - responds very differently.
"Boys!" he booms as he walks down the path, "How nice it is
to see young people enjoying themselves. All I read about
is kids being stuck in front of their Playstations all day
and yet her you are enjoying the sun and having a good
time. I used to play football when I grew up a few streets
from here and I can tell you that watching you has brought
back some lovely memories. You've cheered me up so much I
think you deserve a reward. Here's £5 each!"
The boys are naturally wary, but they decide to pocket the
money and they return to playing football as the old man
returns in doors.
The next day they're back and once again the old man comes
out to speak to them. "Ah boys", he says enthusiastically,
"I was thinking about what happened yesterday and I decided
to phone my boyhood friend Eric; we haven't spoken in
years. We've decided to go for a pint on Saturday. I can't
tell you how happy this has made me so, go on, have another
£5 each"
The boys willingly accept the money and as the old man goes
back into his house, they begin to discuss the different
ways they could spend their windfall. They're back the next
day and the same thing happens. They come back the day
after and the same thing happens.
On the fifth day the old man comes out to greet them but
without any of the cheerfulness at all.
"Boys", he says in a grave tone "You must believe
everything I've told you. You have cheered me up and I'm
really, really pleased that we met up, but It's a while
before my next pension payment and things are very tight
financially. Tell you what, how about a penny each?"
"A penny! Are you serious?" asks the oldest boy, "We've
been used to getting a fiver! I can't believe this. Come on
we're going."
With that he and his friends scoop up their ball and
disappear never to be seen again. The old man has his peace
and quiet returned for a mere £60 which is very good
value as far as he is concerned.
If you want to destroy motivation, take a group of people
who are performing learning and enjoying (as the boys were
to begin with) and orient them towards financial rewards
instead. Then meddle with them or take them away and I
guarantee motivation will never recover.
If you'd prefer to see motivation improve do it the other
way round. Use coaching to help discover the opportunities
for performance, learning and enjoyment in any role and
relax as financial rewards cease to be the be all and end
all.
----------------------------------------------------
Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years'
experience. He works with a host of clients in North East
England where his firm is based and throughout the UK and
Europe. Matt understands that people are working with their
true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides
a simple yet elegant key to this lock. For a bumper load of
coaching tips and tricks - including FREE resources - visit
http://www.mattsomers.com
No comments:
Post a Comment