Companies, however_x000D_ unintentionally, choke the motivation out of their employees.
Interpretation
Companies can hinder employee motivation through their actions and policies, even without intending to.
In this quote, Dan Ariely highlights how the structures and environments created by companies can inadvertently suppress the intrinsic motivation of their employees. Despite having good intentions, organizations may implement policies or workplace cultures that diminish enthusiasm and engagement, ultimately leading to a decrease in productivity and job satisfaction.
In practice
In a workshop about improving workplace culture, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of fostering motivation among employees.
To summarize, using money to motivate people can be a double-edged sword. For tasks that require cognitive ability, low to moderate performance-based incentives can help. But when the incentive level is very high, it can command too much attention and thereby distract the personβs mind with thoughts about the reward. This can create stress and ultimately reduce the level of performance.
It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like Homer Simpson than Superman. So from this perspective it is rather depressing. But at the same time there is also a silver lining. There are free lunches!
In a world where everyone is behaving honestly, any dishonesty constitutes a big infraction. But, in a world where many people are behaving dishonestly, and the news is filled with stories of their infractions, even big infractions can feel small to the perpetrator.
Because cheating is easier when we can justify our behavior, people often cheat in small amounts: We can come up with an excuse for stealing Post-It notes, but it is much more difficult to come up with an excuse for taking $10,000 from petty cash.
Disasters are usually a good time to re-examine what we've done so far, what mistakes we've made, and what improvements should come next.
It is very difficult to make really big, important, life-changing decisions because we are all susceptible to a formidable array of decision biases. There are more of them than we realize, and they come to visit us more often than we like to admit.
I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose.
Know that nothing can hinder you but yourself. If you believe you can, you can.
Beat your opponent where he is strongest, and you demoralize him.
The fact that you can only do a little is no excuse for doing nothing.
All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.
Every day that you don't practice is one day longer before you achieve greatness
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