Hey folks,
Your nuggets for the week:
- Motivation comes from Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose
- People aren't that logical
- Pick your ideas apart
#1 Motivation comes from Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose
Three factors which get you exited to do a task:
- Autonomy: You feel like you're in control and doing what you think is best. The choices are yours to make, and not forced upon you by someone else.
- Mastery: You feel like you're improving.
- Purpose: The task is in service of a higher cause, or in service of others. It's something bigger than yourself
Autonomy is particularly tricky. Even telling something to do a thing they might have done anyways can kill their motivation.
via Game Thinking, by Amy Jo Kim
#2 People aren't that logical
Once we take a side on an issue, confirmation bias tends to prevent us from changing our minds, despite any evidence.
Even scientists are subject to this bias:
Planck once said that science advances one funeral at a time: "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
– Scientific Freedom, by Donald Braben
It helps to keep a healthy dose of skepticism about what you think you know
#3 Pick your ideas apart
Instead of assuming your first idea is the best one you could possibly come up with, try brainstorming multiple options and then dissecting each one.
Start with divergent thinking: Brainstorm ideas. Collect a good list.
Then deconstruct them.
For each idea, ask "what facts have to be true for this idea to be work?"
For each fact, ask: "What are the chances of that already being true?"
If it's low, ask "how can I make that true?"
Finally, have patience. Give yourself the time you need to do this.