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Bringing purpose to life

A more realistic view of human nature – meaning, relationships and intrinsic motivation

Blueprint sees the idea, that is often implicitly dominant in business, of the human being as a purely self-interested individual, as partial and reductionist. As people we develop on the basis of our natural predispositions, using our agency and freedom, in the time and place we happen to live that provides us with social norms that can support us but which can also limit us, and which we may need to contribute to modifying. Our belief is that understanding this and shaping the processes and structures within business accordingly, has the power to unlock the latent potential of people to commit to a shared worthwhile endeavour.

As discussed in the book Out of Character, by Desteno and Valdesolo, our behaviour is to a degree situational, influenced and formed by the behaviours of others and the culture in which we are in:

.. our personality and character reflect the groups that socialized us and the groups with which we identify and to which we want to belong.

These cultures are shaped by a set of shared assumptions and beliefs and these influence the outcomes we get. If we assume that people are atomized individuals motivated purely by self-interest and are only after money and status, and we treat them accordingly, we will tend to form people according to that model.

As both the wisdom traditions and empirical disciplines such as neuroscience and positive psychology increasingly recognise, people are in fact fundamentally social. Money matters of course, but three other things are also crucial: meaning and to make a positive contribution through work; to care and be cared for – to belong; and to grow as people – seeking autonomy, mastery and development.

podcast human person

Podcast [listening time 15 minutes]

In this podcast, Helen Alford explains the view of the human person that informs Blueprint’s work, including references to the ultimatum game and other stories to help bring to life how our assumptions are not always borne out by how people behave and how these assumptions can ‘crowd out’ intrinsic motivation.


People seek meaning

The drive for meaning is a fundamentally human one. People have a yearning, even if it can be stifled or repressed, to find personal fulfilment through what they do and who they become in relation to others. Work is one part of our lives in which this deep desire for meaning can be explored through meaningful work. The search for meaning is a personal quest but it can only make sense in relation to others and to the natural environment around us.

For more see:

People are relational

Blueprint sees people in two dimensions – we are both individuals as well as intrinsically relational. As individuals, we are needy, and need others in order to satisfy our survival objectives (for food, shelter, clothing etc.) In that sense, we have “extrinsic” or “instrumental” relationships with others in order to achieve those survival objectives. But we are also, at the same time, “relational”. This relational side looks for relationships because they are good in themselves, not especially because they are useful to each one of us in achieving individual objectives (even if they may also be useful for that). It is with others, in our relationships (of which friendship is a particular kind) that we search to achieve goals and objectives (build a life together, grow together) so that my relationships are part of who I am, not just useful to me in achieving my individual objectives.

So, in some areas of our lives, such as in our friendships or in our families, we tend to think more about our relationships, and in other areas, such as in the workplace, we tend to think of our individual goals and ambitions. What we often do not recognise is that all our relationships have an individualistic, contractual side and an intrinsically relational side. In other words, in everything we do, we are operating as individuals and as intrinsically relational beings at the same time. If we do not recognise our own needs, or our inherent need to be relational and respond to others’ needs, we can feel incomplete and cannot reach our potential and be fulfilled.

For more see:

People are beings with potential, seeking autonomy, mastery and development

Human development is multifaceted and complex: it is not only governed by genetic and other types of inheritance and by the environment, but also by social and cultural norms and, in particular, by agency and the choices that people themselves make. As we develop, in our striving for fulfilment so as to become the best we can be, our potential for being is turned into reality, into actual existence. We turn potential into reality through our actions – we direct our drives towards achieving objectives, and, as we do that, we develop ourselves as well as produce products and services. Since much of our activity, in business and elsewhere, is done as part of groups working towards shared objectives, we can talk about development as co-creation – in driving together towards our goals, we realise our potential as well as produce some objective output.

How our assumptions can crowd out intrinsic motivation

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that an assumption that people are motivated primarily by money, status and power can crowd out intrinsic motivation and reduce openness to learning and innovation.

In this short RSA animation, Dan Pink discusses research that shows that beyond a certain level, people are not motivated by money but by mastery, autonomy and purpose. [10 minute watch]

In this video, Dan Pink discusses why traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. [18 minute watch]

Note:

Intrinsic motivation is where behaviour is driven by internal rewards because it is naturally satisfying and extrinsic motivation involves engaging in a behaviour in order to earn external rewards or to avoid punishment.

Prof Dan Ariely in his book Payoff, sets out the evidence for this and says about the workplace:

Instead of relying only on money as an incentive, we need to expand our scope and examine other motivational forces – ones that provide a greater sense of meaning and connection to work. As people feel connected, challenged, and engaged; as they feel more trusted and autonomous; and as they get more recognition for their efforts, the total amount of motivation, joy and output for everyone grows much larger. (p72)

Other evidence includes:

  • The work of Edward Deci and Richard M. Ryan in, Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behaviour, Springer, 1985, which disputes the dominant belief that the best way to get human beings to perform tasks is to reinforce their behaviour with rewards.
  • This HBR article Stop Paying Executives for Performance drawing lessons from 128 independent studies argues that variable pay can actually deplete performance. “expected tangible rewards made contingent upon doing, completing, or excelling at an interesting activity undermine intrinsic motivation for that activity.”
  • Why Our Economic Behavior Isn’t Always Rational – a NPR podcast by Hidden Brain discussing why economic models of selfish behaviour regularly fail to describe how people actually behave. And can policies crafted with only selfishness in mind have perverse effects on the rest of us?