Daniel Pink’s recent book “Drive” resonated incredibly with me and has inspired new thinking. Specifically, the importance and relevance of how autonomous our life circumstance is (Motivation 3.0 as Pink refers to it) in bringing happiness, fulfilment, impact and immense positives.
He talks about four areas worth investigating to assess the extent of your autonomy:
Tasks – how much choice do you (or could you) exert on what you are up to and involved in
Time – the extent to which you decide where you focus your time, how much of it and in what activity
Techniques – the ways and methods, processes and creativity you can use everyday in getting things done
Team – the extent to which you can choose who you spend time with, be connected to, engage with, develop relationships with
In essence, this is about drawing distinctions between your ‘have tos’ and ’could dos’.
The sum of these four indicate the nature of your current autonomy. The extent in each of the areas may vary widely. If all four are low, the likelihood is it won’t feel great, not empowered nor fulfilling (you may
feel like a function). If all four areas are high it can feel awesome, if occasionally overwhelming as you realise the immense freedom of choice you have.
What I often notice with many clients and their situations is that they have a pre-set autonomy level, i.e. even when there is great autonomy possible, they act as if there wasn’t, treating themselves to the emotions and behaviours related to low autonomy. This abdicates their drive to become immersed and reliant in the outdated and less effective Motivation 2.0 (Pink) expecting an incentive to take action.
This is where heightened awareness and accentuated noticing can elevate your attitude and grasp the autonomy you actually have. Where you have a choice... choose!
In child psychology autonomy is more broadly defined in terms of three types of self-governance – behavioural; emotional and cognitive. Realising and making decisions yourself, in how you act; how you select and apply your attitude; noticing and managing your emotions and thoughts, rather
than waiting or following others.
Autonomise:
Step one – consider each of Pink’s types.
Step two – what simple steps could you take to raise the autonomy level (that perhaps you have ignored until now). ·
Step three – act as if your autonomy level was a smidgeon above what seems to be the case today. What could you add to your day (or subtract) to tune into your inner drive?
Activate your choices wisely – find and relish the autonomy you have right now and love it.
The rewards are immense.
Good luck and keep it simple.
Simon
PS – if you lead teams explore the autonomy types and develop your leadership bravery in loosening the levels of autonomy-restriction, and watch your team grow.