I remembered the question we were asked in class: Why did you choose business school? Answer varied from money, reputation, not good at sciences to fascinated by marketing strategies, wanted to start his/her own company and interest in capital markets. Is there a right or wrong answer? Why did people think differently?

Recalled extrinsic motivator and intrinsic motivator when we learned about motivation. According to Organizational Behavior by Nancy Langton, “Extrinsic motivators come from outside the person and include such things as pay, bonuses, and other intangible rewards. Intrinsic motivators come from a person’s internal desire to do something, due to such things as interest, challenge, and personal satisfaction.” [1] We are able to conclude that students who chose money and reputation are motivated extrinsically and those chose based off passion are motivated intrinsically. Then, which one is more effective?

From my personal experience, I could only perform well if I’m intrinsically motivated. In my primary school, my parents forced me to play piano just because all my peers were learning to play instruments. It is true that being able to play piano is a useful skillset and people might treat me differently in certain cases, but that’s not a valid reason why I should do something I don’t enjoy. When I was in high school, I found myself fall in love with writing. Even if I was so tried after a long day, I still had strong eagerness to write an article or story. It was not torturing, but rather, a refreshment that helped me handle stress.

In some cases, extrinsic motivator works better. In the movie “Wall Street Wolf”, all traders work like crazy because of money. Also in the workplace, managers use all kinds of rewards such as bonuses, stock options and sales commissions to motivate employees. According to Ali Luke: “Sometimes, people think that extrinsic motivation is shallow or false – but it can be a very powerful force. Most difficult things become more bearable when you’ve got something to look forward to at the end.” [2]

There is no absolute answer which one is better. As long as it works for you, it’s effective!

Reference:

1.Langton, Robbins, Judge, Organizational Behaviour, 5th edition, p. 130.

2. Luke, A. (2013, August 21). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Which Do You Need? Retrieved April 02, 2017, from https://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivation-which-do-you-need/