The PIE PRINCIPLE – my own data

Welcome back Viphilus*

Last week I told you about the “surprise me” maneuver . But were you surprised at how easy it appears to engage people? Are you a skeptic and say, “no way – it’s not that easy.” Maybe you are a manager who feels like you just can’t find the start button to getting your people moving. Maybe you are a parent of a child who’s inertial lethargy feels monumental. Maybe you simply believe that you don’t possess the necessary “soft skills” to motivate or influence people the way that you want (or more importantly, the way that they need).

{note: I detest the term “soft skills” because everyone knows they are the hardest ones to develop … BUT THEY CAN BE DEVELOPED}

About 10 years ago as I was doing extensive research on leadership and engagement (through reading and attending lectures, workshops and conferences), I noticed that despite the different language that the authors, teachers and speakers were using, everything they said about engagement could be boiled down into three independent (but linked) categories: Purpose; Identity; and Empowerment. In 2007 I began teaching about PIE openly at both my workplace and my church, as well as in individual coaching. Having no special training or credentials to call myself an expert, I left the door open (wide open actually) to have my theory modified. That’s why I was so thrilled to read Dan Pink’s book, “Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us.”

Whether you have read the book or not, if you have not seen the 11-minute RSA-animate version of Dan’stalk … then OH MY … click the link right now and enjoy … but please come back.

The reason that I was thrilled was that I was NOT surprised about what Dan shared through his data and stories; I had come to similar conclusions through my own research and experiences. Make sure you get his book (highly recommended).

Dan’s three identified prime motivators are purpose, mastery and autonomy. My belief is that the last two of these are actually subsets of the broader categories identity and empowerment. Dan mentions empowerment in his book but mostly dismisses it because it is a highly misunderstood term that is being abused in workplaces everywhere. I agree with his assessment, but rather than bypass the word because it is not being used properly, I prefer to train out the dysfunction and learn to use the word in its fullest context.

Below is a graphic that I use in training on P.I.E. with each category being defined in its simplest manner.

Rather than using the word motivation as Mr. Pink does, I am choosing “engagement,” which I think provides a more holistic sense of the human condition. And as has been proven over and over again in studies (not to mention anecdotal evidence … such as what engages you yourself), motivation or engagement not only peaks when it is intrinsic, it is also more sustainable (extrinsic motivators come and go but you are always with yourself). J

Let me provide my own data on each of these.

PURPOSE

When we do things for a reason, this automatically raises our engagement. When that reason resides within us and is not simply provided by a command/request from someone else, this points us to the “start button.”  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says that “purpose is activation energy for living.” 

In 1996 my in-laws came with us to Florida for a 2-week theme-park extravanganza, along with my mother and two kids (aged 9 and 7). My Mom flew but the rest of us drove. My mother-in-law did exactly as we expected … she slept for 3-4 days in the car as we journeyed to gloryland.

Then we arrived, checked into our condo, and discussed the plans for the next day. I’m an early riser and was the first one up the next morning. Or so I thought. I was asked to wake up my in-laws at 7am … they were in an adjacent condo. I knocked and “Nanny” opened the door, fully-dressed, and saying, “I’m ready!” Say whaaaaaa?  She had already eaten too.  Say whaaaaaaaaaa? For the next hour she politely kept asking, “I’m ready … what are we waiting for?” It was like this for the entire two weeks.

A rainy day at Epcot ... Nanny is sitting in the wheelchair and chomping at the bit to get to the next attraction

What’s so special about this story? The fact that she was in her late 70s? Nope. It was the fact that she had required almost full-time care-giving by her husband for as long as I had known her and that she had been someone with clinical depression for decades, and had been in hospital for almost 6 months less than a year earlier. Neither my wife nor father-in-law had ever seen her so engaged – like ever.

Nanny had purpose! Purpose alone can be powerful.

The sideburns betrays the decade

IDENTITY

Mr. Pink’s “mastery” is one aspect which helps define our “identity.” When I was in high school I pursued math and sciences. But that’s not what I remember. What floods my mind with almost all of the memories are the hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours that my friend Wayne and I spent playing trombone together. I was a nerd, therefore, not at all aligned with the social crowd. But everyone knew I was the “trombone guy.” That reputation alone generated passion in me to get better and develop mastery. I actually got reasonably skilled at the instrument and it was completely intertwined with who I was. I never considered myself an artistic type but I can truly understand how artists find it almost impossible to separate themselves from their art/craft (and why criticism of their work is very personal). 

Mastery is only one dimension of identity but this example is enough to make my point … for now.

EMPOWERMENT

Similarly, Dan Pink’s “autonomy” is simply one aspect of “empowerment.” True empowerment is freedom to be able to do what you need to do, the ability to make decisions about how to do it, and the necessary resources/tools to enable execution. Back in 1995 I was given a wonderful opportunity at work; they wanted me to write a book. Actually, I had co-written a book in the late 80s on marine weather hazards in Atlantic Canada and three other books had been written in the following few years as supplements; the supplements focused on local weather effects around Atlantic Canada. By the time we got to 1995 there was a growing demand to have all 4 books rolled into one large guide to marine weather in the region. A lot of new information was available to include in the book as well as significant improvements to what had been written. I estimated 6-7 months to do the job, if I could focus … something difficult to do in a workplace that could be best described as cube-ville (if you've ever read Dilbert cartoons you understand).

I asked my manager if I could do some of the research and writing from home (teleworking was a relatively novel concept at that time but not unheard of).

“Sure – do whatever you need to write the book,” she said. I thanked her and asked what kind of reporting protocols she had in mind.

“Just let me know how it’s going when there’s something worth reporting and let me know if there are any problems or something that you need.”

“Great,” I said … “but do you want me to give you a report once a week … once a month … or what?”

<pause>

“Just bring me a book by the end of March.”

The finished product was called, “Where the Wind Blows.” 

That’s empowerment. 

(note – Martha, my manager, didn't take it too far and ignore me, because that would have been abrogation … she simply made sure I always had what I needed in order to do the job).

I've only cracked the surface of this topic, but my own data supports what others report. P.I.E. is a principle that you can take to the bank when it comes to engaging a human being. Next week we’ll get personal and see how you are at engaging yourself (if you always wait for someone else to do it for you it will be a long hard life).

Blessings Viphilus,

Your friend, Omega Man

OCA Training

* Viphilus means, "lover of life"