About ten years ago, I was teamed with another internal organization development consultant to make a performance management tool. You know performance management, the annual process that determines whether your impact exceeded expectations, just met those expectations or whether you need improvement. My co-chair was a very interesting and thoughtful chap that i quote often. For example, one day i said “sounds great Chris, we can kill two birds with one stone.”. He suggested and indeed meant it when he said, “why don’t we try and feed two birds with one biscuit.” I use that line often—some people love it, some people mock it. I like it.
On our way to inventing the IPad in 2001, Chris picked up a hobby of studying motivation. We worked with a talented team to determine many aspects of the program—including the link between pay and performance. At the root of our debate was whether or not employees would be motivated by the opportunity to increase their salary from the standard 2.1% to 2.6%. Or were they more motivated by the impact of their work. It was then that I started to learn the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Through his bird-feeding biscuit moments, I got a good working definition of motivation that I have been able to apply to my life. Along the way, I began to share in the hobby of understanding motivation. In pursuit of this hobby, I came across Drive by Daniel Pink.
The book examines nearly one half century of scientific research on human motivation and challenges the long-held notion of the carrot and the stick.
One of the side-streets he drives across, looks at the phenom of “being in the flow.” Being in the flow, could be illustrated by a project/job where a work week passes as quickly as a weekend day. For the past six months, i have been “in the flow”. I have been involved in a project that might be tough to top.
The work has great meaning, the opportunity to improve lives and has been supported by smart, fun and interesting people. The months have left weeks and days in their wake as I struggle to believe how quickly time has passed. When I think about what threads weave their way through the project, I am struck by how simple it all sounds.
Meaningful work connected to my desire to make great places to work and colleagues that I can trust to do their best. We celebrate the successes, we learn from mistakes and take time to laugh. Essentially, a chance to make a difference with people I enjoy. Sounds pretty simple.
Are you in the flow? Have you ever been? How would you describe it and how could you do it again?
FYI: when we invented the iPad in 2001, instead of it being a tablet pc, it was the individual performance and development. I guess we were too busy feeding two birds with that one biscuit to patent the naming convention.
