I just took this test that Daniel Pink has made to see if you are more intrinsically (Type I) motivated or extrinsically (Type X) motivated. To my surpise I was mostly Type X. I have never seen myself as extrinsically motivated as I have always had a focus on having fun doing my job and helping others..
The definitions of the behaviors are:
Type X behavior: Behavior that is fueled more by extrinsic desires than intrinsic ones and that concerns itself less with the inherent satisfaction of an activity and more with the external rewards to which that activity leads.
However I had answered truthfully on all the questions including the questions that concerned the work I have been doing until a month ago. And it struck me, that the answers to these questions where not all as I wanted them, but was dictated by the job and the company I worked at. So I took the test again, answering all questions as if the job I had now was my dream job and everything was as I wanted it. And even though I only changed my answers to about a thrid of the questions, it now deemed me a Type I.
I recommend to take the test – but remember that if you get another result than you expext it might be because of things you do not control at the moment or in your current job.
Why would you even prefer to be ’type I’-motivated? Why is it preferable to think that the source personal fulfillment stems from working rather than from the factors described as ”extrinsic”? – I guess what here curiously referred to as ”extrinsic” means life besides work, your personal life or your life in general.
SvarSletIn order to gain a clear sight of the kind of “company talk” that Pink promotes (following the philosopher Harry Frankfurt, I would call this sort of talk ‘bullshit’ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit ), it is instructive to look more closely at what Daniel Pink actually calls being ‘type I’-motivated. Daniel Pink describes the crucial part of being “intrinsically motivated” or “type I”-motivated with reference to the Tom Saywer Effect – a concept inspired by Mark Twains book The adventures of Tom Sawyer. Now what does he write?
“Tom faces the dreary task of whitewashing Aunt Polly's 810-square-foot-fence. He's not exactly thrilled with the assignment. ”Life seemed hollow, and existence but a burden,” Twain writes.
But just when Tom has nearly lost hope, ”nothing less than a great, magnificent inspiration” bursts upon him. When his friend Ben ambles by and mocks Tom for his sorry lot, Tom acts confused. Slappng paint on a fence isn't a grim chore, he says, It's a fantastic privilege --- a source of, ahem, intrinsic motivation. The job is so captivating that when Ben asks to try a few brushstrokes himself, Tom refuses. He doesn't relent until Ben gives up his apple in exchange for the opportunity.” (Pink 2009, p. 36)
Now who is ‘type I’-motivated in this story? Ben is. And this is, of course, highly instructive, because Ben is being deceived. Either by himself or more likely by Tom. Painting a fence just IS boring.
Translate this into the company context that Pink is clearly discussing: “Either you are deceiving yourself or your boss is deceiving you - but it doesn’t matter, because you will be happy by being intrinsically motivated!”. This, to my mind, indicates that there something suspicious or perhaps merely shallow about Pinks whole enterprise.
In any case, I just simply don’t get: Why on earth should it be less preferable to say ”I work to earn a living.” than to yell with Pink ”I live to work!”?