Introduction .............................................................................................................. Motivation and people management
The 50:50 rule
Just as the Pareto principle (or 80:20 rule) is the ratio of ‘the vital
few and trivial many’, the Adair 50:50 rule has it that:
50% of motivation comes from within a person; and
50% from his or her environment, especially from the
leadership encountered therein.Unfortunately human behaviour and what decides/triggers it is
more complicated than the carrot and stick ‘theory’ which deals only
with external stimuli.The ‘carrot’ of reward/incentive and the ‘stick’
of fear of consequences reveal only two ‘motives’ which govern
action. There are many more!
The expectancy theory – formulated by Edward C Tolman in the
1930s – (whereby behaviour rests on the instinctive tendency for
individuals to balance the value of expected benefits against the
expenditure of energy) falls into the same ‘stimulous-response’
approach to motivation. It does demonstrate, however, that an
individual’s strength of motivation can be affected by the expectations
of outcomes from certain actions andfurther strengthened by the
individuals preferred outcome, as demonstrated by Victor H.Vroom
in the 1960s.
It pays, therefore, in external stimuli to bear in mind that:
1 the routes to desired outcomes for individuals and teams
are clear; and
2 individuals perceive the rewards or punishments in
different ways according to their own values.This confirms the need to treat people as individuals but as the 50:50
rule also indicates, other motivational factors should always be set
in the context of the individual’s managed environment. Other
theories of motivation which suggest that 90% of motivation is
within an individual should be tempered by the 50:50 rule.