Intrinsic Or Extrinsic Motivation

Although it is his day off, Charlie takes an unexpected call from his boss, Tom, who asks for his help. Tom explains that he has a rush job that needs to be done today, and he asks if Charlie would like to do it. The job is to mow a large area of grass with a heavy, petrol-powered mower. Charlie thinks about this for a moment and then declines the offer. "Mowing grass is just plain boring," he says.

Tom goes on to reveal more details about the job. He tells Charlie that the grass in question is at Newcastle United's training ground, and all the star players will be there today. If Charlie brought along his camera and an autograph book, he could get some great souvenirs.

Charlie laughs at this. He tells Tom that he must be getting him mixed up with Chris, who supports Newcastle. Charlie supports Sunderland and so working alongside players from his rivals' team would offer no incentive.

This news causes Tom to revert to plan B, as that grass must be cut today. "All right then," he says, "How about I give you an extra twenty quid?"

"What time do you want me there?" Charlie says, and later that day the grass is mown.

What we have here is Tom trying to motivate Charlie into mowing the grass. The job on its own is long and tedious and Charlie declined to do it for that reason. Tom tried to ignite Charlie's interest in the task by revealing that the job would involve mingling with Premier League footballers. This is intrinsic motivation, where the task itself has aspects that are appealing enough to have the person actually want to do it.

Having got Charlie mixed up with another employee as to their football affiliations, Tom tried offering more money as a means to motivate Charlie into taking the job, and this time he was successful. This is extrinsic motivation, where a reward or other incentive is offered to motivate a person into doing something that would be far less appealing without it.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are two distinct

Tom offered Charlie the intrinsic motivation first, because this would cost him nothing. This is a key difference between these two forms of motivation: intrinsic is generally free, while extrinsic comes at a cost. This suggests that intrinsic motivation is the better option because its application bears no cost, but this is only a part of the picture.

Intrinsic motivation works well because a person who is happy at their work is generally more productive than someone who is unhappy.

It is possible to be motivated intrinsically and extrinsically simultaneously, as I know from personal experience. The first articles I ever had published were in a Newcastle United magazine. I received no payment for these articles, and yet I wrote over twenty (and I still write them when time allows). My motivation lay in writing about the football club I love (intrinsic) and the reward of seeing my name in print in a glossy magazine (extrinsic).

This last point is important, because the term 'reward' is not confined to money. It could be that a person is extrinsically motivated by other factors, such as a qualification, or even just the prospect of a little praise for their efforts. Even police sniffer dogs respond to non-financial extrinsic motivation as they dart excitedly between suitcases, keen to sniff out contraband because they get to chase a ball after each successful find.

So if you have to motivate your team, it may be wise to consider which approach would work best under the circumstances relating to individual situations. Whichever way you choose, the sight of your team working well should motivate you intrinsically, while the prospect of high praise for a job well done should cater for the extrinsic side.