Self-Determination Theory

From "Do Hard Things" by Steve Magness

In the 1970s, Edward Deci and colleagues gave what appeared to be wooden three-dimensional Tetris pieces [I later find these to be Soma cube puzzles, above] to a group of twenty-four college students and told them to build a shape out of the blocks. For three days, the students who returned to the lab were shown a new shape and went to work on the blocks sitting in front of them. For half of the participants, day two brought a pleasant surprise. For each puzzle that they solved in the allotted time, they’d receive a monetary reward. Motivated by something beyond simply killing time for the fun of it, the participants upped their work ethic, spending longer stretches on solving the puzzle.

But when the participants returned for day three, the monetary reward was gone. It was back to making the shapes for the sake of making shapes. Not surprisingly, with an external incentive gone, their motivation dropped. Participants spent less time attempting to create new shapes and were more apt to quit playing with the

blocks and simply sit there. The phenomenon we now know as extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation was born. Other scientists soon repeated the experiment in a range of different tasks and ape groups. Before too long, researchers had replicated the effect in schoolchildren drawing and athletes playing sports. When some external reward or punishment was introduced, it shifted people's motivational habits.

Deci, along with another psychologist, Richard Ryan, had a radical idea. 'Their findings on what motivated people didn't apply just to doing homework or solving a problem, but to something far greater; their well-being, Deci and Ryan expanded their work on intrinsic motivation, declaring that we all have three basic and innate psychological needs. If we satisfy these needs, our well-being will improve, and we'll be self-motivated for growth and development. Self-determination theory (SDI) was born. It include the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Or said another way, to feel in control, like you can make progress, and to belong

Since the introduction of SDT, it has been investigated and applied to everything from parenting to teaching to substance abuse. And supporting Deci and Ryan's original hypothesis, net satisfaction is linked to better health, ratings of well-being, and performance in a variety of domains. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness serve as our basic psychological needs. And fulfi our basic needs helps not only with well-being, but also with to ability to persist.

Magness summaries the importance of this for leaders.   The three key needs that leaders have to satisfy are:

1. Being supported, not thwarted: having input, a voice, and a choice

2. The ability to make progress and to grow

3. Feeling connected to the team and mission; feeling like you belong

Magness also cites a recent Google Study of its high performing teams:

Cultivating an environment that allows for progress and competence has the following characteristics.

• A challenging but supportive environment

• The ability to take risks and voice your opinion without fear being the dominant motivator

• A path that shows the way for growth and improvement in your job or field