DRiVE - Three Elements of Motivation

DRiVE, is a fascinating book by Daniel Pink that challenges the traditional carrot-and-stick approach to motivation. With scores of examples, based on decades of motivational research, he illustrates how the joy of doing a task is itself motivational, and that the concept that an extrinsic reward is motivational is flawed. One example he gives is the encyclopedia created by Microsoft in 1995: MSN Encarta. Well-paid writers and editors developed what Microsoft thought would be the most comprehensive, paid information source available in the world. MSN Encarta didn't have any competition until 2001, when with the help of thousands of unpaid volunteers Wikipedia was launched. Looking backwards to 2001, who would you have bet on to succeed? In October of 2009, Microsoft ended MSN Encarta.

How Do Customers Evaluate Your Service?

If you are curious as to how consumers evaluate customer service in your type of business, then check out the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Using customer interviews and a multi-equation econometric model developed at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, they rate 10 economic sectors, 45 industries and more than 225 companies and federal or local government agencies. ACSI ratings are on a 0 – 100 scale and focus on two areas: Drivers of satisfaction: Customer Expectations, Perceived Quality and Perceived Value and Outcomes of satisfaction: Customer Satisfaction, Customer Complaints, and Customer Loyalty. Interesting results: The two highest rated (many tied for third) are breweries and soft drinks, and the three lowest rated are airlines, subscription television services and government.

Managing the Customer

We love great customer service – actually we expect great customer service! But we don’t always get it and often when we’re on the giving end we don’t practice it either. There are lots of books and articles about giving excellent customer service, and invariably they all say the same thing: people need to be trained about the process, they need to understand the impact that it has on the organization and then given the customer service skills to do it right. Well, that’s only part of the story. I think it comes down to this: people have to be motivated to want to provide good customer service, and even if they are, like any habit-changing dynamic people will every once in awhile slide backwards, and some people will refuse to change at all. That said, most people will do it if two actions take place: First, they have to have the rationale and skills on why and how to do it, and second management needs to reinforce it. Everyone will agree on the second, but what about the first? The rationale to do it comes down to Control and Manage. Everyone wants to feel that they control their actions, but they really don’t. Psychologists tell us that this is do to the rule of reciprocation; our initial reaction to others based on the perception of how we feel we are being treated by them. This has far reaching implications for customer service, especially on the frontlines because in my experience frontline staff tend to react to customers. If a customer doesn’t smile, looks unhappy, then frontline staff takes it personally and react accordingly. This of course sets of a chain reaction of more of the same. The more that frontline staff – or for that matter anyone – recognizes this, the greater the likelihood they can manage their reaction and control the customer interaction outcome. This is not only good for the customer, but it’s good for everyone. It reduces stress, and makes the work experience more enjoyable. More successful customer service will only take place if frontline staff and management are provided the tools and attitude awareness that will enable them to control and manage their own reactions as well as that of the customer.

Perceptions & What We Might Be Missing

A friend of mine emailed me the following... This will make you think.

PERCEPTION

. . . Something To Think About. . .

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximatly. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*Do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

How many other things are we missing?

Click here for Snopes to confirm this happened.

Social Media & Time Management

You can use up a lot of time maintaing a social media presence - I was going to say "waste a lot of time" because it's easy to do that as well! My Twitter colleague, and a time management guru @Floramattis, sent me a link to an interesting article 3 STEPS TO BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, by Rich Brooks. It provides three key steps to take to help manage your social media time.

The Reckoning: How Does Your Moral Mind Work?

Happy New Year everyone! My friend, Arthur Massi, sent me a link to a fascinating website Your Morals.com. Developed by professors and graduate students in social psychology at the University of Virginia, The University of California (Irvine), and the University of Southern California, it provides quite a few surveys that provide you insight as to how your moral mind work. You do have to register to participate in the surveys, but it's an account that you can log in and out of to take the many surveys it provides.

Do Mental Snapshots Define our Inner Selves?

If we speak to ourselves do we tend to be more confident? If we think in pictures does that mean we have problem empathizing? Intriguing article in the NY Times Health section by Jascha Hoffman Taking Mental Snapshots to Plumb Our Inner Selves, that explores studies about consciousness and its influence on personality and behavior.