How Will You Measure Your Life?

Christensen opens the chapter by telling a story from when he was running CPS Technologies, a start-up. At a family picnic, he noticed his employee Diana with her family. He could tell she was a happy mother. Christensen started to imagine how Diana’s professional life, with all of its stresses, might impact her family. At first, he sensed the pressures from her job would have a negative impact; however, he also imagined how a satisfying experience at her job could potentially benefit her family. Christensen uses this anecdote to discuss motivation.

Using another anecdote, Christensen describes a class he taught in which a student insisted incentives could help solve a theoretical problem at a company. Christensen remains skeptical and unconvinced and then describes how incentives are extrinsic reward systems. What one should instill in their employees is intrinsic motivation, in which one feels challenged, appreciated, and like their work has value. Christensen distinguishes between incentives and motivation (i.e., the two-factor theory, or motivation theory), considering incentives and other compensation-driven rewards as hygiene factors. These usually involve money and status and can sometimes lead people to conclude they lack true passion for their work.