What Motivates You?

👋 Hey there, Software Engineers and Team Leaders!
Ever wondered what truly motivates you or your team members? Understanding motivation is key to increasing your impact and satisfaction at work. That’s why I want to introduce you to a game-changing practice from my latest book, “I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge,” co-authored with Michael Doyle.
🎯 Introducing: Moving Motivators

🤔 What Is It?
Moving Motivators is a simple yet powerful exercise that uses a deck of 10 cards. Each card represents an intrinsic motivation like Curiosity, Acceptance, Power, and so on. The aim? To uncover what drives you and your teammates. The practice comes from Management 3.0 and Jurgen Appelo‘s book Management Workout!

🌟 Why Use It?
This practice is a lens to view the world through different perspectives. What’s crucial for you might be trivial for someone else. The beauty lies in understanding that there’s no universal “good” or “bad”—just different motivators for different people.

👣 How to Get Started
1️⃣ Download and print the cards from the Management 3.0 website.
2️⃣ Sort the cards based on what motivates you the most.
3️⃣ Consider a life change and see how it affects your motivators.
4️⃣ Bonus: Play this game with your team and discover what drives them.


🔄 Why It Matters

Understanding motivation is not just a personal journey; it’s a team journey. When you know what drives each team member, you can work together more effectively and navigate changes with ease.

📚 Want to dive deeper? This practice is just one of the 18 we cover in our book.
Check it out at I am in Charge.

👇 Let me know what you think and if you’ve ever tried something similar to understand motivation!

Author

  • Alexis Monville

    Alexis Monville worked in multicultural and distributed environments for years, coming back from the US and now based in the southwest of France. When asked if he misses the work in the office, he usually answers that he spent half of his 30 years of management experience in diverse sectors outside of the office and a lot of that working from home. Alexis is Chief of Staff to the CTO at Red Hat, a long-time hybrid open-source software company with more than 100 office locations in 40 countries, where half of the 20,000 people work remotely. Alexis is a firm believer that change starts with the self. He is the author of two books: Changing Your Team From The Inside and I am a Software Engineer and I am in Charge. Alexis facilitates successful playful collaborations. He designs and builds sustainable and high-impact teams and organizations.

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