Motivational Theories

A series of theories thunk up by people who read a lot and crunch numbers using computerized statistical software. These theories revolve around what motivates people. (We're starting with greed, lust, fear, anything Kardashian...)

Such theories include the well-known Hierarchy of Wants and Needs by Abraham Maslow, Theory X/Y by Douglas McGregor, Two-Factor Theory by Frederick Herzberg…as well as others. The three mentioned here are often still taught in classrooms, even though those “reads-a-lot” people have effectively tossed them onto the dust heap of history.

No one seems to listen to the “reads-a-lot” people. A lot of time and money has gone into trying to figure out what drives people. There are now newer theories...which will likely be tossed out and replaced with even newer theories…and everyone will still be confused about what motivates people.

But true motivators can be summed up in one sentence:

Different people are motivated by different things, so good luck trying to predict it with high levels of accuracy.



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