The Practice Of Motivation - Association for Business and 动机的实践和商业协会.docVIP

The Practice of Motivation Robert E. Ankli Gulf University for Science and Technology Kuwait (965) 962-1635 (mobile) (965) 572-1560 (home) rankli@ Abstract The purpose of this paper is to understand how organizations can become more successful in “motivating” their work force. The argument is that much of the work on motivation is not useful for business. This paper argues that if “motivation” is to be useful, it is necessary to assume that there is some reason to expect that people are capable of psychological growth. It will be argued that the self-determination theory of Deci and Ryan provides a more robust description of how to think about motivation. Their position is that self-motivation, rather than external motivation, is at the heart of creativity, responsibility, healthy behavior, and lasting change. The Practice of Motivation “Are you proud of your work?’ [my wife] asked one evening. “It’s all right, as work goes.” “What about the people you work with, are they special?” “They’re all right.” “So, the company, Shell, is it really a good organization doing good things?” “I can’t complain, it’s all right.” She looked hard at me, then said, ‘I don’t think I want to spend the rest of my life with someone who is prepared to settle for all right.” Charles Handy, The Elephant and the Flea Abstract The purpose of this paper is to understand how organizations can become more successful in “motivating” their work force. The argument is that much of the work on motivation is not useful for business. This paper argues that if “motivation” is to be useful, it is necessary to assume that there is some reason to expect that people are capable of psychological growth. It will be argued that the self-determination theory of Deci and Ryan provides a more robust description of how to think about motivation. Their position is that self-motivation, rather than external motivation, is at the heart of creativity, responsibility, healthy behavior, and lasting change.