So What's The Purpose?

If you've read my recent blog entries, you may remember that the first two "nutrients" of intrinsically motivated behavior are autonomy and mastery. But if you're willing to believe Daniel Pink and his bestselling book Drive. The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, there's one more element that should not be overlooked: Purpose.

Autonomous people working toward mastery perform at very high levels. But those who do so in the service of some greater objective can achieve even more. The most deeply motivated people -- not to mention those who are most productive and satisfied -- hitch their desires to a cause larger than themselves. (p. 133)

One example that Pink uses to prove this is the sharp rise in volunteerism, i.e. ever more people working for free, doing something that gives them purpose. While making money is still important to them, it seems to not be enough to really motivate:

We're learning that the profit motive, potent though it is, can be an insufficient impetus for both individuals and organizations. An equally powerful source of energy, one we've often neglected or dismissed as unrealistic, is what we might call the "purpose motive." (p. 135)

Just one example of how purpose seems to be taking a central role in the world of labor comes from a few students at Harvard Business School. Seeing that quite a number of their peers were just in it for the money, they decided to take an oath (they called it "The MBA Oath"). Suffice it to say that the content of the oath sounds more like purpose maximization ("As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater good...") than profit maximization. Max Anderson, one of the founders of the oath, says he hopes that 25 years from now his class will not be known for how much money they made, but for how the world was a better place as a result of their leadership. Talk about purpose.

But does it really matter if you're striving for some greater good instead of for a pool in your backyard? According to research by Edward Deci, Richard Ryan and Christopher Niemiec it does. They decided to ask students that were graduating from the University of Rochester about their life goals. Some had what we would call "profit goals", while others had "purpose goals." After these young adult had been out of school and in the "real world" for one or two years, Deci, Ryan and Niemic tracked them down to see how things were going. Those who'd had purpose goals and felt like they were reaching them, reported higher levels of satisfaction and personal well-being than when they were still in school and generally low levels of depression and anxiety. But those who felt they were attaining their profit goals weren't able to report higher levels in any of the positive categories and showed increases in anxiety and depression -- even though they were clearly reaching their goals.

"These findings are rather striking," the researchers write, "as they suggest that attainment of a particular set of goals [in this case, profit goals] has no impact on well-being and actually contributes to ill-being." [...] even when we do get what we want, it's not always what we need. (p. 143)

Nobody is saying that profit doesn't matter. We all need money to survive and take care of our daily needs. But if more wealth is all you're striving for, it might be time to go looking for a higher purpose in your work and in your life in general. It will not only drive you in everything you do, you'll probably also feel less anxious and overall happier as a result.