Why Motivating People Doesn't Work ... and What Does

Why Motivating People Doesn't Work ... and What Does Plot Summary

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why traditional approaches to motivation often fail? Despite offering incentives, rewards, or even threats, leaders frequently find themselves frustrated when team members don't respond as expected. The fundamental problem lies in a misunderstanding of human motivation. The traditional carrot-and-stick approach assumes people lack motivation and need external forces to be driven toward goals. This book presents a revolutionary framework that challenges conventional wisdom about motivation. At its core is the insight that people are always motivated—the question isn't if they're motivated, but why. By understanding the spectrum of motivation and the psychological needs that drive human behavior, leaders can create environments where optimal motivation flourishes naturally. Rather than trying to motivate others through external means, effective leaders help people tap into their internal drives by satisfying their needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. This approach not only leads to better performance but also promotes well-being, creativity, and sustainable results.

Chapter 1: The Motivation Dilemma: Why Traditional Approaches Fail

The motivation dilemma represents a fundamental paradox in leadership: managers are held accountable for motivating their people, yet trying to motivate others simply doesn't work. This dilemma stems from a flawed understanding of human motivation. Traditional approaches assume that people lack motivation and need external incentives or pressure to perform. However, the truth is that people are always motivated—they're just motivated differently and for different reasons. When we examine motivation closely, we discover that the quality of motivation matters more than the quantity. The Spectrum of Motivation model illustrates six distinct motivational outlooks, ranging from suboptimal (disinterested, external, and imposed) to optimal (aligned, integrated, and inherent). Suboptimal motivation is like junk food—it might provide a quick energy boost but ultimately undermines sustained performance and well-being. Optimal motivation, on the other hand, is like nutritious food that provides sustainable energy and promotes flourishing. The appraisal process explains how motivation actually works. Throughout the day, people continuously evaluate their workplace experiences, forming conclusions that affect their sense of well-being, which in turn shapes their intentions and behaviors. This internal process happens whether leaders recognize it or not, and it's why external motivators often fail to produce the desired results. When people feel pressured or manipulated, they may comply temporarily, but their internal appraisal leads to diminished energy and engagement over time. Consider the case of a sales manager who implements a contest with attractive rewards to boost performance. Some salespeople might initially respond with enthusiasm, but those operating from an external motivational outlook will likely see their performance decline once the incentive is removed. Meanwhile, top performers like Kacey, who are driven by solving client problems and making a difference, may feel offended by the implication that they need external rewards to do their best work. The contest actually undermines their optimal motivation rather than enhancing it. The key insight is that leaders cannot motivate people, but they can create conditions where people are more likely to experience optimal motivation. By understanding the motivation dilemma, leaders can shift their focus from trying to motivate others to facilitating an environment where people's psychological needs are satisfied, allowing their natural motivation to flourish.

Chapter 2: The Spectrum of Motivation: Six Motivational Outlooks

The Spectrum of Motivation presents a nuanced framework that transcends the simplistic motivated/unmotivated binary. It identifies six distinct motivational outlooks that explain why people do what they do. These outlooks aren't fixed personality traits but dynamic states that can shift based on context, psychological needs, and self-regulation quality. The spectrum divides into two categories: suboptimal and optimal motivational outlooks. The suboptimal category includes three outlooks: disinterested (seeing no value in an activity), external (pursuing tangible or intangible rewards like money, status, or recognition), and imposed (acting from pressure, obligation, or fear). These outlooks generate low-quality energy that's either deficient or unsustainable. Like junk food, they might provide immediate gratification but lead to diminished performance and well-being over time. The optimal category includes aligned (connecting to personal values), integrated (fulfilling a sense of purpose), and inherent (finding natural enjoyment) outlooks. These generate positive, sustainable energy that enhances creativity, productivity, and satisfaction. Each outlook reflects a different quality of motivation rather than merely its presence or absence. For example, two employees might both complete a project on time, but one does it to avoid disappointing the boss (imposed outlook) while another does it because it aligns with their professional values (aligned outlook). Though the behavior looks identical, the quality of their experience and sustainability of their motivation differ dramatically. Consider a healthcare initiative offering financial incentives for weight loss. Research shows that while participants often lose weight initially (operating from an external outlook), they typically regain it after receiving their reward—and often add more pounds. The external incentive undermined their internal motivation for maintaining healthy habits. Contrast this with someone who adopts healthier eating habits because it aligns with their values of self-care and longevity (aligned outlook), or because they genuinely enjoy the taste of nutritious foods (inherent outlook). Their motivation is more likely to sustain long-term behavior change. Understanding the spectrum empowers leaders to recognize different motivational outlooks in themselves and others, and to create conditions that facilitate shifts toward more optimal forms of motivation. Rather than trying to motivate people with carrots and sticks, effective leaders help people connect with their values, find meaning in their work, and experience the natural satisfaction that comes from optimal motivation.

Chapter 3: Psychological Needs: Autonomy, Relatedness, and Competence

At the heart of human motivation lie three fundamental psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness, and competence (ARC). These needs aren't merely preferences but essential requirements for psychological health and optimal functioning. When these needs are satisfied, people experience positive energy, vitality, and well-being that lead to sustainable high performance. Autonomy is our need to perceive we have choices and are the source of our actions. It doesn't mean independence or freedom from constraints, but rather volition and psychological ownership of our behavior. Even in highly structured environments, people can experience autonomy when they endorse the value of what they're doing. We can observe this need from early childhood—watch how a baby grabs for the spoon when being fed, wanting to control the action despite lacking the skill. In the workplace, autonomy is satisfied when people feel they have meaningful input and choices within appropriate boundaries, rather than feeling controlled by external forces. Relatedness is our need to care about and be cared for by others, to feel connected without concerns about ulterior motives, and to contribute to something greater than ourselves. This need encompasses both interpersonal connections and a sense of belonging to a larger purpose. In organizations, relatedness is undermined when people feel used or manipulated, or when leaders create environments where relationships are purely transactional. Conversely, relatedness flourishes when people experience genuine care and contribute meaningfully to others' well-being. Competence is our need to feel effective at meeting everyday challenges and opportunities, to experience growth and mastery. Humans naturally seek to learn, develop skills, and overcome challenges—as evidenced by children's persistent efforts to walk despite repeated falls. In the workplace, competence is satisfied when people receive appropriate challenges, helpful feedback, and opportunities to develop and apply their skills. It's undermined when tasks are either too difficult (causing anxiety) or too easy (causing boredom), or when growth opportunities are limited. These three needs are interdependent—the ARC Domino Effect means that when one need is thwarted, the others are affected as well. For instance, a micromanaging leader undermines autonomy, which then raises questions about competence ("Don't they trust my abilities?") and damages relatedness ("They don't respect me"). This cascading effect explains why seemingly small leadership actions can have outsized impacts on motivation. The practical implication is profound: leaders can't directly motivate others, but they can create conditions where these psychological needs are satisfied, enabling optimal motivation to flourish naturally. By understanding and supporting ARC, leaders help people shift from suboptimal to optimal motivational outlooks, resulting in sustainable high performance and well-being.

Chapter 4: The Danger of Drive

The concept of "drive" permeates our language about motivation. We praise those with "inner drive," we "drive for results," and traditional motivation theories are often called "drive theories." However, this metaphor reveals a fundamental misunderstanding about human motivation that can lead to counterproductive leadership practices. The danger lies in the question: if you are driven, who is doing the driving? Drive Theory, a dominant motivational paradigm for decades, suggests that humans are motivated to satisfy deficiencies—when thirsty, we're driven to drink; when hungry, we're driven to eat. While this explains basic physiological needs, it fails to capture the nature of psychological needs. Unlike physiological drives that dissipate when satisfied, psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence (ARC) create a positive spiral—the more they're satisfied, the more we seek experiences that continue to fulfill them. They're not deficiency needs but growth needs. External drivers—whether tangible rewards like money and promotions or intangible pressures like fear, guilt, or shame—create suboptimal motivation that undermines psychological needs. When leaders drive for results by applying pressure, they diminish autonomy by making people feel controlled rather than volitional. They damage relatedness by creating the perception that they care about results more than people. They undermine competence by generating stress that interferes with creativity and problem-solving. The irony is that driving for results often impedes the very results leaders seek. Consider Brandt, a successful executive who described himself as "intensely driven." Through reflection, he realized that his drive stemmed from a need to prove himself to his legendary father. This external driver created a vicious cycle—the more he achieved, the less satisfied he felt, leading him to push harder for more external validation. His autonomy was compromised because his choices weren't truly his own; his relatedness suffered because his relationships became means to an end; his competence never felt sufficient despite objective success. Brandt's realization that "being driven is another way of saying I am not in control" marked the beginning of his shift toward more optimal motivation. The alternative to being driven is self-regulation—mindfully managing feelings, thoughts, values, and purpose for immediate and sustained positive effort. High-quality self-regulation enables people to satisfy their psychological needs despite workplace challenges and distractions. It's the means by which we protect our psychological needs from the constant bombardment of external drivers that threaten to undermine them. When leaders understand the danger of drive, they can focus on creating environments that support self-regulation rather than applying pressure that requires people to expend precious energy resisting it.

Chapter 5: Motivation Is a Skill

Motivation isn't an innate trait that some people have and others lack—it's a skill that can be developed and mastered. This revolutionary insight shifts responsibility from leaders trying to motivate others to individuals learning to activate their own optimal motivation. The skill of motivation involves three key components: identifying your current motivational outlook, shifting to or maintaining an optimal motivational outlook, and reflecting on the experience. The first skill, identifying your current motivational outlook, requires honest self-assessment. Are you pursuing a goal because you find it inherently enjoyable, because it aligns with your values, because it fulfills a noble purpose—or because you feel pressured, seek a reward, or see no value in it at all? This awareness creates the foundation for change. For example, someone might realize they're approaching a weight-loss goal from an imposed motivational outlook ("I should lose weight because my doctor and family are pressuring me") rather than an aligned outlook ("I value my health and want to have more energy"). The second skill, shifting to an optimal motivational outlook, involves using high-quality self-regulation through mindfulness, values, and purpose (MVPs). Mindfulness creates space between stimulus and response, allowing you to observe your current outlook without judgment. Connecting to developed values—those freely chosen, prized, and acted upon—provides meaningful reasons for pursuing goals beyond external rewards or pressures. Linking actions to a noble purpose generates the highest quality motivation by connecting daily tasks to something greater than yourself. These techniques help satisfy psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence, facilitating a shift to optimal motivation. The third skill, reflection, involves examining your sense of well-being after attempting a shift. How do you feel? What physical sensations and emotions are you experiencing? This reflection helps solidify successful shifts and provides another opportunity to shift if you're still experiencing suboptimal motivation. It also builds awareness of the qualitative difference between the energy generated by different motivational outlooks. Consider Mark, who resented Valentine's Day celebrations but participated to avoid disappointing his wife. Through applying the skill of motivation, he shifted from an imposed outlook ("I have to do this or I'll be in trouble") to an aligned outlook ("I love my wife enough to celebrate in ways meaningful to her"). Years later, Valentine's celebrations had become so integrated into his relationship that he'd forgotten he ever disliked them—demonstrating how temporary shifts can evolve into enduring changes in outlook. The practical value of motivation as a skill extends beyond personal satisfaction to measurable outcomes. Research shows that people with optimal motivational outlooks demonstrate higher productivity, creativity, engagement, and physical and mental health. By mastering this skill, individuals can transform not only their experience of work but also their results.

Chapter 6: Motivational Outlook Conversations: Facilitating Shifts

Motivational outlook conversations represent a powerful leadership approach that helps others shift from suboptimal to optimal motivation. Unlike traditional attempts to motivate through incentives or pressure, these conversations facilitate individuals' internal process of examining and potentially shifting their motivational outlook. The goal isn't to solve problems or impose solutions but to create space for people to connect with their psychological needs and discover more optimal reasons for pursuing goals. These conversations become relevant when someone's suboptimal motivation is affecting their performance, well-being, or the team's dynamics. Signs include missed deadlines, underperformance, emotional outbursts, defensiveness, or disengagement. However, before initiating such conversations, leaders must prepare by examining their own motivational outlook. If you're approaching the conversation from an imposed outlook ("I have to fix this person") or external outlook ("This will make me look good as a manager"), you'll likely undermine the process. Effective facilitation requires leaders to operate from an optimal motivational outlook themselves. The conversation follows the three skills of motivation. First, help the individual identify their current motivational outlook by exploring their sense of well-being regarding the situation. Listen for language cues ("I have to" versus "I get to"), observe body language, and ask open-ended questions about how they're experiencing autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Second, facilitate a shift by helping them explore options for more optimal motivation. The "Power of Why" technique—asking a series of why questions that peel back layers of external reasons to reveal deeper values and purpose—can be particularly effective. Finally, guide reflection by asking how they feel about the conversation and any shifts they experienced. Consider the case of Sonny, who proudly declared that money was his primary motivator at work. Through a series of "why" questions, he revealed that he wanted money to buy a new car to impress people and demonstrate success. When asked why success was important, he shared emotionally that he was the first in his family to graduate college, and his parents had sacrificed tremendously for his education. This revelation connected his work to values of gratitude and appreciation rather than external validation, shifting him from an external to an aligned motivational outlook. The power of these conversations lies in their ability to help people discover their own optimal motivation rather than having it imposed upon them. When Blair, a retail manager, initially tried to facilitate a shift with her underperforming employee Randy, she made the mistake of imposing her own values: "I told Randy when I am asked to do things I don't like, I remember that I chose this profession because of my love for design and fashion." She realized her approach undermined rather than supported Randy's autonomy. By stepping back and exploring Randy's values instead, she created space for him to find his own meaningful connection to the work. These conversations require patience, mindfulness, and a genuine belief in people's capacity to find optimal motivation. The leader's role isn't to motivate but to create conditions where motivation can flourish naturally.

Chapter 7: Rethinking Five Beliefs That Erode Workplace Motivation

Our leadership practices are shaped by underlying beliefs that often go unexamined yet profoundly influence how we approach motivation. Five particularly pervasive beliefs have become so embedded in organizational consciousness that they're accepted without question, despite evidence that they undermine optimal motivation. Rethinking these beliefs is essential for creating workplaces where people can flourish. The first eroding belief—"It's not personal; it's just business"—creates an artificial separation between work and human experience. This belief allows leaders to make decisions affecting people's livelihoods, opportunities, and well-being while avoiding responsibility for the emotional impact. The alternative belief—"If it is business, it is personal"—acknowledges that work is deeply personal and that emotions are not only acceptable but essential to optimal motivation. Leaders who embrace this perspective validate feelings, offer descriptive rather than evaluative feedback, and promote mindfulness rather than emotional suppression. The second belief—"The purpose of business is to make money"—narrows focus to financial metrics at the expense of human needs. While profitability is necessary for sustainability, making it the purpose leads to short-term thinking and questionable practices. The alternative—"The purpose of business is to serve"—recognizes that profit is a byproduct of creating value for customers and employees. Organizations that focus on serving their people so they can serve customers generate sustainable profitability as a natural consequence of fulfilling their true purpose. The third belief—"Leaders are in a position of power"—creates dynamics that inherently undermine psychological needs. Research shows that even well-intentioned uses of power—whether reward, coercive, referent, or legitimate—tend to diminish people's experience of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. The alternative belief—"Leaders are in a position of creating a workplace where people are more likely to satisfy their psychological needs"—shifts focus from wielding power to cultivating environments where optimal motivation can flourish naturally. The fourth belief—"The only thing that really matters is results"—creates a tyranny of outcomes that obscures the importance of how results are achieved. This belief implies that ends justify means, leading to ethical compromises and unsustainable practices. The alternative—"What really matters is not just the results people achieve but why and how they achieve them"—recognizes that the quality of motivation behind results determines whether they can be sustained and repeated. Leaders can reframe results to connect them with values and purpose, set high-quality goals focused on growth rather than external validation, and honor the process as much as the outcome. The fifth belief—"If you cannot measure it, it doesn't matter"—privileges quantifiable metrics over qualitative aspects of work that may be more meaningful. While measurement is important, the most rewarding aspects of work—purpose, relationships, growth, creativity—often resist simple quantification. The alternative belief—"If you cannot measure it, it is probably really, really important"—acknowledges the value of these immeasurable elements and encourages leaders to become comfortable with the emotional and subjective dimensions of work. By challenging these eroding beliefs and adopting alternatives that support psychological needs, leaders create workplaces where optimal motivation can flourish naturally, leading to sustainable high performance and well-being.

Chapter 8: Creating a Workplace for Optimal Motivation

Creating a workplace for optimal motivation represents the practical culmination of understanding motivation science. Rather than attempting to motivate people through external means, leaders focus on cultivating environments where people's psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence are naturally satisfied. This approach transforms not only individual experiences but organizational outcomes as well. The foundation begins with leaders shifting their own perspective from what they want from people to what they want for people. When leaders genuinely desire their people's growth, well-being, and fulfillment, they make different decisions about how to structure work, provide feedback, and measure success. This shift in perspective isn't merely altruistic—it's strategic. Research consistently shows that when people experience optimal motivation, they deliver higher productivity, demonstrate greater creativity, provide better customer service, and show more organizational citizenship behaviors. Creating such a workplace involves practical leadership practices that satisfy psychological needs. To support autonomy, leaders invite choice within appropriate boundaries, explain the rationale behind necessary constraints, and involve people in decisions that affect them. To promote relatedness, leaders demonstrate genuine care, connect work to meaningful purpose, and create opportunities for collaboration and community. To enhance competence, leaders provide optimal challenges, offer learning opportunities, normalize mistakes as part of growth, and recognize progress as well as achievement. The organizational systems must also align with these principles. Traditional structures built on the assumption that people need external incentives to perform well often undermine the very behaviors they aim to encourage. Progressive organizations are redesigning performance management, compensation, and recognition systems to support rather than subvert psychological needs. They're replacing control-oriented practices with those that promote autonomy, community, and mastery. The promise of optimal motivation extends to all levels—individual, team, and organization. For individuals, it means experiencing work as a source of energy rather than depletion, finding meaning in daily tasks, and developing through challenges. For teams, it creates psychological safety, collaborative innovation, and mutual support. For organizations, it generates sustainable high performance, customer devotion, and adaptive capacity in changing environments. Consider the transformation at WD-40 Company under CEO Garry Ridge, who built a "culture of belonging" where 98% of employees report being treated with dignity and respect. The company eliminated the fear of failure by reframing mistakes as "learning moments" to be shared openly. This approach to optimal motivation has generated remarkable results—employee engagement three times the national average, retention rates over 93%, and market capitalization growth from $200 million to $1.2 billion. The workplace of optimal motivation isn't a utopian ideal but a practical possibility based on sound science and proven practices. By understanding and applying the principles of motivation, leaders can create environments where people flourish as they succeed—fulfilling the true promise of optimal motivation.

Summary

The key insight that transforms our understanding of motivation is deceptively simple yet profound: people are always motivated—the question isn't if they're motivated, but why. Traditional approaches fail because they attempt to motivate people from the outside in, using carrots and sticks that generate suboptimal motivation. The alternative approach recognizes that optimal motivation comes from the inside out, when people's psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence are satisfied. The implications of this shift extend far beyond individual performance to reshape our fundamental understanding of leadership and organizational design. When leaders create environments where people can connect their work to values and purpose, experience genuine care and community, and develop mastery through appropriate challenges, they unlock sustainable high performance that benefits everyone. The science of motivation offers not just a more effective approach to leadership but a more humane one—where people can bring their full selves to work and find fulfillment in contributing their best. In this vision, motivation isn't something leaders do to people but something people experience naturally when their psychological needs are met, creating workplaces where both people and performance flourish.

About Author

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Susan Fowler

Susan Fowler is the founder and CEO of Mojo Moments, an international organization represented by channel partners and strategic alliances who recognize that motivation is at the heart of everything people do—and everything they don’t do but wish they did.Susan is on a quest to help leaders at all levels flourish as they succeed. Widely known as one of the foremost experts on motivation, leadership, and personal empowerment, she gained her knowledge through extensive experience in business, advertising, sales, production, marketing, executive and lifestyle coaching, and leadership training in all fifty states and over forty foreign countries. Susan has worked with clients as diverse as AkzoNobel, Apple, Bayer, Bloomberg, Google, Harley-Davidson, Inspire Software, Merrill Lynch, Moody’s, National Basketball Association, Pfizer, TJ Maxx, and Wavetronix.The first edition of Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work . . . and What Does became a bestseller translated into fourteen languages. Susan’s Master Your Motivation is a companion book teaching individuals the skill of motivation. She is the lead developer of the Ken Blanchard Companies’ Self Leadership program and coauthor of three books with Ken Blanchard: Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager, Leading at a Higher Level, and Empowerment. Susan has produced the audio programs Overcoming Procrastination and Mentoring and coauthored Achieve Leadership Genius with Drea Zigarmi. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for instructional design by the North American Simulation and Gaming Association.Susan lives with her husband, Drea Zigarmi, in San Diego. Communicate with her at [email protected] and MojoMoments.com. Connect with Susan on social media:Facebook: @SusanNFowlerTwitter: @fowlersusannLinkedIn: Susan FowlerInstagram: @susannfowler

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