Why intrinsic motivation doesn't work

In general, when people change their behavior because they want to, or with a nice word, they are intrinsically motivated that the change then has a greater chance of lasting than if it did not. That's why many opinion leaders will say that you should strive for this. The use of punishment, the gurus say, is outdated, it is an outdated management style. Motivating 2.0 is something you do intrinsically and no longer extrinsically. So we let people in self-managing teams determine how they do the work. That often works and just as often it doesn't, as if you were tossing a coin. If this does not work, it is invariably due to the preconditions that have not been met, say the gurus. However, it would not surprise me that, even with successful self-management, the preconditions are more often not met than (think about this).

People are more likely to take action when they are in danger of losing something than when they can gain something. The fear of loss is a greater motivator than the prospect of gain. As a result, managers will unknowingly or consciously (the psychopaths among them) punish their employees in one way or another when they do not act entirely in line with the interests of the manager. I can still remember that there was a skill “management sensitivity” that was part of the discussion in my end-of-year meeting. I didn't score very high on that. A reason why I eventually started my own company. Punishment works faster than rewarding and because punishment alone is not good for his self-image, the manager will also put some reward in return.Where he can then also withhold that reward and it indirectly becomes a punishment again.

The big problem with intrinsic motivation is often that it is next to impossible. You have to work with the motivation that is present at a certain point in the employees involved. The question then is whether there is sufficient equality to do what you as a manager have in mind. Especially in the Netherlands with a right of dismissal where it is virtually impossible to get rid of 'not intrinsically motivated' employees, you have to make do with the people you have. You cannot motivate intrinsically. After all, the word already says it itself, intrinsic comes from within and not from outside, it is there or it is not there. I consciously emphasize it a bit to make my point.

Now that I've made my point, do I want to ask you a question? Would you like to work in such an organization? One where the managers manage with (un) conscious punishment? Of course not! An organization with that kind of people at the helm are terrible places to work. These are the organizations where the employees sabotage, want to retire earlier, where office supplies are stolen by the employees at the start of the school year, and so on. Where managers motivate extrinsically, an unhealthy work climate often develops.

That leads me to the following conclusion: you cannot motivate intrinsically and extrinsic does not work either!

My proposal to managers is to stop motivating! You simply should not do something that cannot or does not work. As a manager, you lay down the goal, you explain it, explain the importance and then leave it to the employees. You give them feedback on the effect of their effort, no more, no less. You give them sufficient information on the basis of which they can determine themselves how far they are and what they should do. If they ask for help, you give it. If there are any obstacles, you can remove them. The new manager thus becomes a non-motivational manager.