{"id":1736,"date":"2018-03-27T13:33:37","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T20:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/b-spoke.net\/?p=1736"},"modified":"2026-06-29T22:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:00:29","slug":"carlin-motivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/2018\/03\/27\/carlin-motivation\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything I Need to Know I Learned from George Carlin"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>A Six Minute Read<\/h6>\n<h3>Got into an argument this morning with my Rice Krispies. I distinctly heard- \u201cSnap, Crackle, [Screw] Him\u201d. I don\u2019t know which one of them said it&#8230; But I told them, I said, \u201cWell, you can all just sit right there in the milk. Far as I\u2019m concerned you can sit in the milk until I find out which one of you said that.\u201d<\/h3>\n<h3>A little mass punishment for my breakfast food. The idea is to turn them against one another.<\/h3>\n<h3>\u201cJust sit in the milk!\u201d<\/h3>\n<h3>Of course, dopey me: big punishment! That\u2019s what they do anyway. That\u2019s their job. Sitting in the milk.<\/h3>\n<p><em>Audio Not\u00a0Safe for Work&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"George Carlin - Rice Krispies\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AAIyOfypnyc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Managers spend a lot of time discussing \u201chow to motivate\u201d employees \u00a0&#8211; and grumbling about thos<a href=\"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/category\/managing-people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1741\" src=\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/brick-wall.png?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"142\" \/><\/a>e who \u201cjust aren\u2019t motivated\u201d. That\u2019s an intellectually lazy label: being \u201cunmotivated\u201d is not a <u>cause<\/u> of workplace issues, but rather a <u>symptom<\/u>.<\/p>\n<p>Since we\u2019re incapable of reading employees\u2019 thoughts, we don\u2019t know if they really are \u201cmotivated\u201d, we only know what we see. When we judge someone\u2019s \u201cmotivation\u201d, it is really our subjective assessment of the urgency, enthusiasm, care, and initiative we <em>perceive<\/em> in his actions. Since we\u2019re incapable of <u>changing<\/u> employee\u2019s thoughts, we can only influence their behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Getting the behavior we want \u2013 that is, \u201cbeing motivational\u201d \u2013 is the manager\u2019s responsibility, after all.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not a trained psychotherapist, but I am a certified Man of Action. I can speak (inelegantly) about a few things in the Human Condition.<\/p>\n<h4>The Why You Do the Things You Do<\/h4>\n<p>Outside of genuinely altruistic behavior, most people take the path of least resistance.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1739\" src=\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/kazuend-26663-unsplash.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>\u201cLoss Aversion\u201d is well-documented \u2013 people generally take greater risks to avoid losing something than to achieve an equal gain. At work, it\u2019s \u201cPain Aversion\u201d \u2013like flowing water, we tend to find the least-resistant path. We spend more effort minimizing anxiety, fear, or discomfort (physical, emotional, intellectual) than chasing gains.<\/p>\n<p>As leaders, this means we need to remove the barriers that make the \u201cright thing\u201d the more difficult, painful thing.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s so damn difficult is, everyone interprets pain differently (and has different tolerances). So where one person <u>appears<\/u> to be more motivated than another, she is actually adapting, navigating obstacles, and enduring her surroundings differently.<\/p>\n<p>When taking a systemic approach \u2013 either to understand performance, or to create an environment that breeds success \u2013 I find it helpful to look at two variables: <strong>Rewards<\/strong> and <strong>Behavior<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:0;\"><strong>Rewards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:25px;\">By \u201cReward\u201d, I don\u2019t mean <em>money<\/em>. \u201cRewards\u201d, in this sense, represent what an employee <em>values<\/em>, what provides her with a sense of security and comfort. Think of the \u201cRewards\u201d variable as a scale sliding from excruciating pain (anguish, confusion) to overwhelming peace. &#8220;Rewards&#8221; provide either fuel or friction for getting shit done.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1740\" src=\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bowl.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:25px;\">A Reward system is consistently applied across a workforce, but the perceived value \u2013 the \u201cvariability\u201d of the variable \u2013 is assessed on an employee-by-employee basis. (Kind of like the Scofield scale objectively measures the heat of chili peppers, but everyone\u2019s tolerance for that heat varies.).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:25px;\">For one person, a chance to speak in front of her colleagues could be seen as a tremendous reward and fuel good work; to another, it could feel like punishment and grind their efforts to a halt. A preferred parking spot may make one person feel special, while his colleague might not appreciate having his car front-and-center in the lot.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:25px;\">Rewards Perception can change over time; what was once acceptable can become intolerable, and vice versa. And it can vary based on what an employee is expecting: Whereas you or I might take umbrage if we were thrown in a vat of milk and left to contemplate our inevitable doom, for a Rice Krispie, that\u2019s just another day at the office.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom:0;\"><strong>Behavior<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:25px;\">At a very high level, the \u201cBehavior\u201d variable is the <a href=\"http:\/\/b-spoke.net\/2015\/01\/07\/booing-is-not-feedback\/#pinpointing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pinpointed description<\/a> of what an employee is doing. This should be as objective and judgment-free as possible: Describe the actions, not your interpretation. What would appear in a silent film? If you were a director trying to describe what you wanted to see onstage, what would that be? That\u2019s \u201cBehavior\u201d.<\/p>\n<h4>Bringing Them Together<\/h4>\n<p>You can use these variables to either map out a current environment, or chart an optimal one.<\/p>\n<p>Think about the <u>ideal<\/u> Behavior you\u2019d like to see. Remember to pinpoint!<\/p>\n<p>Think about the most reasonably <u>unacceptable<\/u> Behavior you\u2019d like to avoid.<\/p>\n<p>In a perfect world, we would chart each employee as an individual (in reality, we might paint with broad strokes); so, brainstorm:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What Rewards encourage that person to engage in the ideal and acceptable behavior(s)? What will provide the fuel for their fire?<\/li>\n<li>What Rewards <u>dis<\/u>courage that person to engage in the ideal and acceptable behavior(s)? What friction will slow them down?<\/li>\n<li>What Rewards encourage that person to engage in the unacceptable behavior(s)?<br \/>\n<em>In other words, what will make it easy to do the wrong thing?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>What Rewards <u>dis<\/u>courage that person to engage in these unacceptable behavior(s)?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some examples:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:30px;\"><em>Think about a project manager who consistently delivers quality work on-time, and under-budget. When you have a project that is in the weeds, she\u2019s the one you want to give it to, right? So the <\/em>encouraged behavior<em> is Delivering Difficult Projects on Time. The <\/em>Reward<em> for that is\u2026 More difficult, complicated projects. <strong>The Reward actually discourages what we want.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left:30px;\"><em>Across the hall is another PM who always screws things up. He has time in his calendar, but when this gnarly project comes up, are you going to give it to him? Probably not. So he is exhibiting <\/em><u>dis<\/u>couraged behavior<em>, but receiving a positive <\/em>Reward.<\/p>\n<h4>What Do We Do with This Information?<\/h4>\n<p>Once we have an honest assessment articulated, we want to:<a href=\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/consequences.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1738\" src=\"https:\/\/b-spoke.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/consequences.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"549\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Do the things <\/em>identified in Question One \u2013 that is, create an environment that encourages desired behaviors;<\/li>\n<li><em>Eliminate the obstacles <\/em>identified in Question Two;<\/li>\n<li><em>Stop doing the things<\/em> that answer Question Three \u2013 too often we chalk it up to the \u201claw\u201d of unintended consequences!<\/li>\n<li><em>Judiciously implement<\/em> the activities from Question Four<br \/>\n(This one is \u201cpunishment\u201d \u2013 what happens to an employee when she screws up. This is where many managers go first (and stay there); I suggest going there as a last resort. \u201cHoney\u201d vs. \u201cvinegar\u201d and all that.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Setting Expectations for Leaders<\/h4>\n<p>The answers to Question One \u2013 setting up an environment that makes it easy to do the right thing \u2013 need to be implemented by somebody. Leaders.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, these are the <u>Desired Behaviors<\/u> for an employee\u2019s supervisors. Set these expectations with them.<\/p>\n<p>Repeat the entire exercise with these behaviors for this new population. (i.e., What will encourage the supervisor to do this? What will discourage her?) The answers to this round of questions becomes the new expectations for the supervisor\u2019s supervisor.<\/p>\n<p>Repeat at the next level. And the next.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s how you build an \u201cenvironment\u201d.<\/p>\n<h4>You Still Have to Lead<\/h4>\n<p>Remember that people behave as individuals, and aren\u2019t always going to do what you want. It takes time to think through and clarify what you expect \u2013 and what you won\u2019t accept \u2013 from your employees, and then to understand their personal reward systems.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of coming up with a rousing \u201cmotivational\u201d speech \u2013 or worse, yet, hanging cheesy posters \u2013 invest that effort into understanding what pulls employees in different directions.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to make it \u201ceasy\u201d for employees \u2013 but you shouldn\u2019t make it harder.<\/p>\n<p>Understanding, even at a basic level, what employees value allows you to draw them to their goals and remove roadblocks. And, sometimes, you find out what <u>you<\/u> think is valuable provides nothing to your staff.<\/p>\n<p>Or what you think is punishment \u2013 like forcing your cereal to sit in the milk \u2013 is what they were planning on doing, anyway.<\/p>\n<p><em>I know Carlin would not approve of using his wisdom to improve corporate America. For a case study a little more, er, <\/em>corporate<em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7GDeK-sl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Would you take business advice from this man? I did!<\/p>\n<p>And here&#8217;s what I learned about motivating &#8211; and demotivating &#8211; employees. <a href=\"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/2018\/03\/27\/carlin-motivation\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Everything I Need to Know I Learned from George Carlin<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[23,31,33,39,40,57],"class_list":["post-1736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faffing-about","category-managing-people","tag-consequences","tag-everything-i-need-to-know","tag-expectations","tag-george-carlin","tag-getting-shit-done","tag-pop-culture"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/carlin-header.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2356,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions\/2356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thirdactmedia.com\/b-spoke\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}