What floats your boat? A closer look at intrinsic motivation.

Is everyone equally motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose?  I don't think so.

For the independent types, autonomy might matter more than mastery or purpose. For those whose mainly care about being part of efforts that “make a difference”, a sense of purpose might dominate. And for the craftspeople who care most about their vocation, mastery might be paramount. 

What's more, one's intrinsic motivation profile might not always match the intrinsic motivation profile of their team. Yes, teams have their own profiles because different teams might offer different levels of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. For example, a digital product team entrusted with improving a product or business metric is likely to be more autonomous and feel more purposeful than a team tasked only with the delivery of features against deadlines.

The illustration above shows an individual who is motivated most by mastery working in a team that offers more opportunity for purpose than the other two factors. That's normal because it is the individual’s skill-set that determines the team they work in, for all practical purposes. Besides, organizations usually lack knowledge or even awareness in this regard.

But it might be interesting, even useful, to maintain such profiles at a team and individual level. We could then assess the degree of "intrinsic-motivation alignment" between a team and its members. When there is a choice of teams for an individual, this perspective might help.

How much do we care about our own needs versus those of our team?

Another thing to consider; do we care more about our own autonomy, mastery, and purpose or that of our team? Does one lead to the other? The next illustration digs deeper into the intrinsic motivation profile of the individual depicted above. It finds this individual to be motivated by team autonomy and purpose, but personal mastery.

In the context of orgdesign, we care more about teams than individuals, and we design for the success of teams with the knowledge (assumption?) that what's good for the team (in this regard) is at least somewhat good for the individual.

Motivation Lifecycle

There's more to it. Think about individual motivation a little more and it becomes clear that the factor most intrinsically motivating for us doesn't remain constant through our lives. Autonomy might matter the most at one point, mastery or purpose at another. With this insight, we could visualize the relative importance of intrinsic motivators through our life stages from teenage to adulthood to end of life.

Here are some visualizations of motivation lifecycles based on stereotypical life journeys. I claim no expertise in charting life journeys, these visualizations are illustrative straw-men. The color-coding for the three factors is the same as above. And the top band is autonomy, the bottom is purpose, and mastery is in the middle.

Lifecycle #1: Lifelong learner

Bright student, mid-career need for slightly greater autonomy. 

Lifecycle #2: Lost student turned successful entrepreneur

Increased need for more meaningful purpose in later life. 

Lifecycle #3: Child prodigy who loses their mojo later. 

Lifecycle #4: Careerist turned activist.

Someone who decides mid-career to quit racing the rat race and shifts focus to changing society for the the better. 

Lifecycle #5: The “Organization Man”

"The Organization Man" is a classic management book of the 1950s. It's author, William Whyte, painted the picture of a lifelong careerist – someone who subordinates individualism to conformity with the standards and requirements of an organization. Whyte did not like the picture. In the concluding chapter, he says:

It is easy to fight obvious tyranny; it is not easy to fight benevolence, and few things are more calculated to rob the individual of his defenses than the idea that his interests and those of society can be wholly compatible. The good society is the one in which they are most compatible, but they never can be completely so, and one who lets The Organization be the judge ultimately sacrifices himself. Like the good society, the good organization encourages individual expression, and many have done so. But there always remains some conflict between the individual and The Organization. Is The Organization to be the arbiter? The Organization will look to its own interests, but it will look to the individual’s only as The Organization interprets them .

The bulk of relatively well-off middle-class workforce could be said to be organization men (and women). They mostly buy into the stated purpose of their employer and surrounding establishment and thus provide much needed stability to the wheels of a capitalist economy. Some of this cohort might seek new purpose near or post retirement. 

Understanding these lifecycles might help understand what drives (motivates) us at different stages of our lives. My experience as a mentor and leadership development coach tells me this might be another tool to help us understand feelings of discontent about our current work situation. Get in touch if you'd like some insight into your personal work situation.

Note: I published an earlier version of this post on LinkedIn in a slightly different context.