MOTIVATION IN THE

WORKPLACE
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation/transcript
MICROSOFT - STEVE BALLMER
➔ At 24, Steve Ballmer dropped out of Stanford University
Business School to join Bill Gates’ startup - Microsoft

➔ Gates offered $50,000 base salary & 5-10% equity in the

company & 10% of profit growth he generated

➔ Estimated net worth: $40.7 million

➔ Ballmer helped negotiate and land a huge deal with IBM

to get the company to run Microsoft software on its
computers.

➔ In 2000, Gates passed the position of CEO to Ballmer

➔ Ballmer also helped Microsoft grow by launching Xbox,

acquiring Skype and building up its $20 billion enterprise
business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZJca-X__k
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MICROSOFT - STEVE BALLMER
➔ 1 or 2 years before iPhone was released, Bill Gates asked Ballmer to
create a copycat device

➔ Ballmer informed senior vice-presidents, each of whom had 1000’s of

engineers & R&D budgets of 100’s of millions of $’s

➔ Yet they failed to produce an acceptable iPhone equivalent

➔ Part of the problem: “stack ranking system” - forced employees to

grade employee performance on a curve

➔ Regardless of individual performance, certain % graded as “average”

or “poor”

➔ Nov. 2013 - abandoned. 3 months later Ballmer stepped down as

CEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZJca-X__k 3
 “
“There is a mismatch between what
science knows and what business
does.”

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 “
BOREOUT: Boredom, demotivation, and
lack of energy and enthusiasm caused by
uninteresting, unchallenging,
monotonous work.

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 BOREOUT
➔ Rothlin & Werder (2008) 15% workers are affected by a boreout

➔ A boreout leads to:

◆ High levels of sick leave
◆ Reduced company loyalty
◆ Lack of energy & enthusiasm
◆ Becoming unfocused
◆ Spending time chatting to colleagues
◆ Surfing the internet
◆ Trying to look busy
◆ Pretending to smoke….

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MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

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 QUESTION
▷ What does the term “carrot and stick” mean to you?

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 CARROT & STICK
CARROT STICK

Bonuses Loss of job

Pay rise Status symbols (own office,

company car, PA…)

Profit sharing schemes Penalties

Promotions Demotion

Education to employees’ Transfer to an inconvenient

children-free or subsidized workplace.

Job security Bad feedback

Granting leave with pay

Travel concession

Healthcare insurance

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 IDEAL JOB
▷ Think about the job that is ideal for you, in your ideal organisation. Apart
from pay, what other benefits and rewards do you want that job and that
organisation to give you?

http://fortune.com/best-companies/2017/google/
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IDEAL JOB

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KARL DUNCKER - CANDLE PROBLEM
Duncker's Candle Problem experiment showed how minds solve
tasks differently. He asked people to solve the problem of a
candle dripping wax onto a table using only what was in front of
them; a box of thumb tacks and a book of matches.

http://whatismotivation.weebly.com/the-candle-problem.html 13
 QUESTIONS
1. Which group was the fastest at solving the candle problem?

2. Why was the candle problem much easier to solve when the tacks were
already taken out of the box?

3. What is Dan Pink’s basic point about what science knows that business
doesn’t?

4. Which of these is NOT an intrinsic reward?

A. freedom of action
B. working for a good cause
C. getting praise and recognition
D. A sense of accomplishment

5. When do rewards and other extrinsic motivations work best?

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6. What is the connection between extrinsic motivation and creativity?

7. What do economists mean when they say, "We find that financial incentives
can result in a negative impact on overall performance." ?

8. What does he mean when he says “go across the pond”?

9. What are the 3 elements he mentions that are the new operating system
for our businesses?

10. What happened at the Atlassian Australian software company?

11. What is ROWE?

12. What happened to Microsoft in the 90’s?

13. What was “Thrilla in Manila”?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=47&v=zQ37lyT6u8Y
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 INTRINSIC vs EXTRINSIC REWARDS
▷ Intrinsic Rewards: valued outcomes or benefits which come from the
individual, such as feelings of satisfaction, competence, self-esteem &
accomplishment

▷ Extrinsic Rewards: valued outcomes or benefits provided by others, such

as promotion, pay increases, a bigger office desk, praise & recognition.

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Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
sarahporter016@gmail.com

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 ACTIVITY
1. What does the speaker say is the first thing we should do to
understand other cultures better?
2. Which language should you speak to receive the best service?
What example does he give?
3. What are the challenges of working across borders?
4. What examples does he give of equality in Norway?
5. Why do Singapore Airlines have the best level of service?
6. What do Italians do when they eat?
7. Why are the Dutch often misperceived?
8. What is the biggest challenge for an Italian living in Norway?

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