Almost every business has ambition, but not every business finds success. More than ever at Ghyston, we are aware of the importance that people play in that difference. Besides getting the right people it’s about creating the environment for them to do what they do best.
“If you get the right people, keep your standards high, and motivate them,” says Greg Levinsky, CIO for GE Appliances, “all the rest of the good things will happen.”
We want all the good things to happen – we presume you do too – so we’ve been reflecting on some of pre-requisites: motivation and its sister state of mind, happiness.
We’re still starting with why
Almost every guide to productivity, including Hubspot’s 7 Simple Hacks to Kickstart a Productive Day, mention the importance of happiness and remembering your ‘why.’
No-one has managed to kick Simon Sinek from the last decade of conversation about motivation, because he got it right first time: “Unless you give motivated people something to believe in, something bigger than their job to work toward, they will motivate themselves to find a new job and you’ll be stuck with whoever’s left.”
And it’s fine to motivate people with recognition and praise and pay-rises. They’re all fairly nice. But it only goes so far. As Daniel H. Pink says in Drive, “When the reward is the activity itself--deepening learning, delighting customers, doing one's best--there are no shortcuts.” Our best work can only happen when we love what we do.
So what can we do about it?
It’s not quite enough to hire people who love what they do. We need to keep putting fuel on that fire, and ensure that we don’t accidentally cut off its supply of oxygen.
We need to create an environment, and more than that, a community in which creativity is given room to breathe, intelligent minds are inspired and where everyone knows the difference they make.
It might cost a little in the short run, but as Tom Kelley, the General Manager of IDEO says, “Some skeptics insist that innovation is expensive. In the long run, innovation is cheap. Mediocrity is expensive.”
You’ve likely already got the ambition. If you’re like us, then you’ve got the team too. But we’re looking to add some fuel to the fire.
Download our guide for more information on how to structure your team for happiness and productivity.
