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author, and it appears with included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.comWord count: 1179 ==================================== Summary: The author observes that many operations leaders are getting a fraction of results they are capable of, because they overlook a critical results-driver, motivation. These leaders see motivation as "soft" way to get results — as opposed to "hard" determinants of cycle time, quality control, etc. — and so they avoid using it. The author asserts motivation is a "hard" tool to be used daily as a practical results-producer. ======================================== Motivational Operations by Brent Filson
There's an inexorable law operating in business. I call it law of UP — Unfulfilled Potential. One can see aspects of this law working in other areas: For instance, in neurophysiology, humans are supposed to use only a fraction of our brains' capabilities; in technology, superconductivity is not yet widely available; and in medicine, harnessing of body's abilities to fight cancers is only just beginning to be understood and realized. But law of UP is particularly dominant in business world — and especially in operations. Operations is blocking and tackling of any organization, fundamentals that create foundation for consistent success.
It's such an important function that in many companies Chief Operating Officer is usually next in line for job of CEO. If a company is not doing operations well, all of its other functions are diminished.
Having consulted with operations leaders in a variety of top companies for two decades, I've seen that many are unfortunately strict adherents to law of UP — for one main reason: They've neglected an all-important results-driver, motivation.
Clearly, many factors further operational excellence: capital, cycle time, technological advancements, quality, efficiencies, etc. But motivation is most fundamental, operational determinant at all, for it drives all others.
After all, operations is sum of people doing many jobs; and when skilled people are motivated to accomplish those jobs, great results happen.
But many operations perceive motivation as "soft" — as opposed to "hard" factors of cycle time, quality control, etc. — and so either ignore it or struggle with actualizing it on a daily basis.
I see motivation, however, as a "hard" determinant of operations that can be a concrete, a practical results-producer.
I'm going to provide four imperatives that you can use right away to achieve consistent increases in operational results. But before I do, I'll offer a working description of motivation. For leaders often fail to motivate others because those leaders misunderstand concept of motivation.
The best way for me to describe it is to describe what it is not. Motivation is not what people think or feel. It's what people do. Look at first two letters of word, "mo." When you see those letters in a word, such as "motor", "motion", "momentum", "mobile", etc., it usually means action of some kind. Look at motivation as action too. If people are not taking action, they are in point of fact not motivated.
Motivation is not something we can do to somebody else. It is always something that that someone else does to themselves. Look back over your career, and you will see that motivator and "motivatee" were always same person. As a leader, you communicate, but people whom you want to motivate must motivate themselves.
Motivation is not a dispassionate dynamic. It is an "emotional" dynamic. The words "motivation" and "emotion" come from same Latin root word, which means "to move." When we want to move (motivate) people to take action, or in truth have them motivate themselves, we engage their emotions. Put another way: People will not take action for more results faster continually unless their emotions are engaged.
