#125: Fairness at work
As I explained last week, we evaluate fairness by comparing our performance and reward with the performance and rewards of others.
No doubt, we all exaggerate our own inputs a little while underestimating the inputs of others. This means that sooner or later you will feel that you are being treated unfairly. You now have four options:(1) you can reduce your performance if you feel that you are rewarded less than you deserve;
(2) you can increase your performance if you feel that you are rewarded more than you deserve;
(3) you can try to change your reward by asking for more if you feel under-rewarded, or you can offer to accept less, or
(4) because it is all about perceptions, you can simply focus on information which supports why you deserve to be rewarded as much as you are.Unsurprisingly, research has shown that people are far more sensitive to being under-rewarded than over-rewarded.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#124: Going with the flow
We are conditioned to believe that life is a struggle, yet nature has many examples which show the success of the easy way. Like rivers – they find the easiest flow to the sea.
Have you swam across a river? The inexperienced river-crosser aims at a point directly across and struggles against the current. But the experienced river-crosser merely aims to get across and flows with the current to the other side.If you are aiming for a very specific spot, then I suppose you must ‘tame’ the river. But why not merely aim to cross the river, ride the current across, and then walk to the desired spot?Often when an inexperienced river-crosser gets about halfway, he realizes that his struggle has exhausted him. Now he must choose between a final fight against the current, or to give in and to go with its flow.
The choice to let go is to admit that to struggle is often mere nonsense.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#123: Pay a little more
People evaluate fairness at work by comparing themselves with others. Specifically, we compare the ratio of what we put in and get out to the ratio of what others put in and get out. In other words, we compare our performance and reward with the performance and rewards of others.
We perceive it to be fair if the two ratios are approximately equal. The problem, as is so often the case, relates to perception. Fairness is a matter of perception and individuals can perceive inequity if they feel under-rewarded and if they feel over-rewarded.Here is how a manager can capitalize on this fairness-perception. You can increase your people’s performance by rewarding them slightly more than what they believe to be fair. Research has shown that those people who believe that they are over-rewarded tend to be more productive than people who perceive themselves to be under-rewarded.Please, Sir, may I have some more?
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#122: Drop your history
History’s purpose is to get you where you are now. However, if you think that this ‘now’ is a good place, then you run the risk that your history will stop you moving into the future.The secret to the future lies in knowing what of your history to put down and what to carry.A deep-sea diver needs a weight-belt in the water, but struggles with it on land. The lead of his weight-belt serves a real purpose, but only at the right time and in the right element. It is easy to feel when lead weight becomes dead weight. It is not so easy to feel the weight of your history, mainly because it is who you are.And society does not help – you are valued far more for what you have already achieved, than for what you may still contribute.Nevertheless, it is up to you to stop this nonsense. If you don’t, then your history will keep you as you are now instead of freeing you to become all that you can be.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#121: Rewards can reduce motivation
As I explained last week, motivation comes from within. So, what happens when you reward someone for doing something he or she likes doing? In some cases this could actually lead to a drop in performance.
Why is that? Let’s take it step by step: Someone is motivated to do something because of the mere enjoyment of doing it. This is called intrinsic motivation. Now you come along and reward her for performing the activity. She now has more than one good reason for doing so. The result? She no longer feels entirely motivated by mere enjoyment and so she experiences a decline in intrinsic motivation.
To avoid this happening, keep the following in mind: Rewards that are clearly offered for competence are likely to increase motivation. Rewards that are perceived to be bribes will have the opposite effect. External rewards that are both large and satisfying can supplement intrinsic motivation.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#120: Trapped by history
History’s purpose is to get you where you are now, but depending on how you see it, history can hold you where you were.Consider this: Elephant trainers don’t bother to tether their adult elephants to large stakes; they know that small stakes will do just as well. As babies, these elephants were tied to strong stakes from which they could not pull free; as adults they have stopped trying. It is not the stake that secures the powerful animal, but the power of its memory. The elephant does not realize this, and so remains trapped by history.You are an accumulation of your stakes and tethers. You carry with you all that you once were: your experiences, education, memories, hurts, joys, hopes, and so on. The more this influences you, the weightier your history, and the more difficult it is for you to see nonsense.Only once you realize that you have the power to pull out the stakes are you free to choose between sense and non-sense.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
#119: Motivation at work
Every work day, many employees suffer a lot of friction because many managers believe in the fiction that you can motivate someone to work. You cannot. It is simply not possible to motivate another person to do something.
Yes, it is possible to ‘get’ someone to do something, whether through physical force or the fear of consequences. But this ‘getting to do’ is not the same as ‘wanting to do’ out of free will.Motivation is an internal desire, not an external force; it is the inner will to do. The most you can manage is to convince others to do something, to fan their desire to do. The rest is up to them.Without the desire to do even self-motivation is impossible. Leaders know this and so seek to convince and inspire. But many managers still don’t get it and so they rely on the power of the hierarchy to control and subdue.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
# 118: Unintended consequences
One of my favorite laws is the Law of Unintended Consequences. It’s not really a law, but a warning that almost all human actions have unexpected results. Each cause can have more than one effect, and will include unforeseen outcomes.Here is my favorite example of the law in action: In 1994 a disc jockey at a Dallas radio station tried to encourage reading. He told listeners that he had hidden up to ten thousand dollars in the books of a local library.The unintended outcome? The library ended up with a heap of trash. More than 800 people tore through the public library, ripping the covers off books, then throwing them on the floor when they failed to find money.Can you prevent unintended consequences? Probably not, but you can minimize the number and their impact. One way of doing so is to discuss your ideas with colleagues, and heeding their feedback, before you implement anything.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.comCopyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
