On the Road 75Willingness
Now we are moving. Here a person is willing to do the task
either because it is rewarding in its own right or because
there is sufficient outside reward to make it worthwhile. The
current has stared to flow, perhaps only a trickle, but
enough.
Enthusiasm
What we normally call ‘motivation’ is the space between will-
ingness and enthusiasm. When we are enthusiastic, either
the task is very rewarding in its own right or the external re-
wards are great enough to make it an attractive proposition.
The current flows enough to go white-water rafting. In busi-
ness, when people are enthusiastic about their work, they
create a business culture that is a pleasure to work in and it
acts as a magnet to attract others. Customers like to deal with
people who enjoy their work and companies prosper when
everyone works from choice, with passion and energy. This
priceless energy cannot be bought.
Unfortunately, you can create aversion and inertia much
more easily than willingness and enthusiasm. It is easy. For a
start, do not listen to what people want or what is important
to them. Or, even worse, make a show of finding out what
they want and then ignore it. When employees are asked
about what sort of office they want, what sort of structure,
how they want to work, they get excited and enthusiastic.
When nothing happens or when something completely dif-
ferent is imposed, that is worse than not being asked at all.
Why bother?
Another good way to demotivate people is to ignore their
achievements and take good work for granted, but immedi-
ately comment on the slightest drop in standards. Worse,
make these standards of little relevance to their job, but
enforce them to the letter. Act as if people are not trust-
worthy, ask them to account for all their time, question any
time away from the work. One telephone sales company I
know kept track of all the times the agents were away from