When I introduced
a mental model of motivation, I wrote about three sources of
motivation, intrinsic, extrinsic and altruistic motivation. This time
I will get introduce four different tendencies concerning on the
intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation. Gretchen Rubin has
introduced four different personalities that react differently for two different sources of motivation:
- Upholders meet outer and inner expectations
- Questioners resist outer expectations and meet inner expectations
- Obligers meet outer expectations and resist inner expectations
- Rebels resist both inner and outer expectations
According to
Rubin, these personalities don´t change during lifetime, unless
something really devastating happens. For example, a loss of a loved
one, or a near-death experience. It doesn´t mean that all the
behavior is the same as the personality describes. Everyone has a
basic personality and similarities with two other ones. For example,
Upholders have similarities with Questioners and Obligers. Usually,
similarities are stronger with one personality. For example,
Upholders have more similarities with either Questioners or Obligers.
In this text, I provide a short description of these four
personalities
Upholders
Upholders can be
described as law abiding citizens and self-targeting missiles. They
want to meet both the outer and inner expectations alike. They tend
to love rules, to-do lists, minute-by-minute schedules, repetitive
tasks, and deadlines. When they make a decision, they will follow
through. All the expectations make them feel free and motivated. They
may feel hurt or impatient when others reject expectations, cannot
determine rules for themselves or question their expectations. They
do not adapt well with sudden changes. They need clarity to meet
their inner expectations. Upholders are eager to understand and meet
expectations thorough, reliable, can seem humorless, and are
demanding.
Dealing with
Upholders is many ways easy. They do what they say, do it on time,
they don´t need any extra requests to do something, and they are
self-motivated. They get energized when they get things done. They
manage their own businesses and customer relations well. They tend to
thrive with situations that have clear rules, routines, changes are
small and slow, and take initiatives without supervision. They have
problems with delegation, because they think others are not
dependable enough.
Questioners
Questioners can be
described as exhaustive researchers and justification-seekers. They
focus on inner expectations. They question everything They need to
find reasons why something is done. If they are good enough, outer
expectations transform to inner expectations. They want to be logical
and efficient. They prefer gathering their own facts and make their
own decisions based on them. They can suffer from analysis-paralysis.
They are paradoxical, because they don´t like to answer questions
from others about their judgments. They think it is not necessary to
explain anything they have thought through, because they have done it
with care. They are interested in creating more efficient systems,
inner-directed, impatient with others´ complacency, and have a
crackpot potential.
Dealing with a
questioner requires patience for their endless questions. They can
add value by finding reasons for doing or not doing something that
others find justified without thinking. You may think they are
difficult with all their questions. You have to remember that they do
it because they want efficient actions and smart decisions. You have
to put them deadlines and restrictions for their research. Do not put
them on a situation where there is a possibility of doing endless
research when it isn´t needed. Put them on environment that rewards
and encourages research. And don´t let them work with people who
have low tolerance for questions.
Obligers
Obligers can be
described as people-pleasers. They focus on outer expectations. Real
issue is that they need external accountability. They cannot meet
their inner expectations without external accountability. They work
well in an environment with external accountability. If the
environment changes in a way that external accountability disappears,
they become clueless and paralyzed. When they can match their own
inner expectations with their outer expectations, they get the life
they want. They are great leaders, family and community members, and
friends. They have a tendency for overworking and burnout and they
have trouble saying no.
You can team up
them with a coach, accountability partner, personal organizer and any
other professional. Face-to-face interactions work best with them.
Accountability works better when they get positive feedback.
Sometimes negative feedback, taking them for granted, too ambitious
demands for them, nagging, or exploiting them can initiate a
rebellion. This can happen fast and without warning. They excel at
meeting other people´s deadlines and like monitoring and supervision
from others when they feel they are treated fairly.
Rebels
There is no better
word to describe a Rebel. They focus on resisting inner and outer
expectations alike. They care about freedom and self-expression. They
resist all types of control, even self-control. The harder you push
them, the harder the resistance. Ability to choose is the most
important thing. They enjoy meeting challenges in their own way. They
can do almost anything they want to if the choice is theirs. When
they are on a mission, they have no need for checklists, routines or
supervision. But they don´t work well with requests. Even reasonable
requests can have a negative reaction. Rebels are independent-minded,
can think outside the box, spontaneous, sometimes inconsiderate, and
struggle with routines.
When you deal with
a Rebel, remember that you get their best response by using
information-consequences-choice sequence. You have to give them all
the information they need, tell them the consequences of actions, and
allow their decision without lecturing. Do not let them out of
trouble, when they make a wrong decision. If they don´t suffer the
consequences, you give them no reason to act. Rebels are quite easily
manipulated by using their contrarian nature against them. They also
respond better when you use words like choice, freedom, and
self-expression, instead of using words like responsibility,
necessity, or rules.
I am not sure how
scientific this division of four personality types Rubin has created,
but it makes sense to me. I am a questioner with a tendency to rebel
against rules. At least, that is what I think of myself.
Until next week,
-TT
No comments:
Post a Comment