What if I disagree with my Motivator Report?

One of my calmest, most easy-going colleagues, for example, was originally surprised to see Competition as one of her top motivators. My team spoke about it in a group, and she speculated on why the score might be high when she did not see herself as a competitive person. She also talked about what Competition meant to her.

She mentioned that some of the Competition-related questions in the Motivation Assessment, especially those that were related to sports, didn’t really resonate with her. However, when asked to articulate what Competition did mean to her, she said that it is about having clear targets and goals, like “What is the finish line?” Or “What am I trying to accomplish here?” Then at the end she added, “Well, and I guess I don’t like to lose…”

One of my teammates, for example, found it difficult to understand why he would score “Need to have” for Financial Needs. And I must admit that I was surprised to hear it too! He is certainly not someone I would ever describe as “money-driven”, or who looks at work through the lens of “if I get more money, I’ll be more motivated.” Digging a little deeper, however, the importance he places on Financial Needs started to become clearer. After discussing it with the team, he honed in on the fact that, for him, Financial Needs represents the peace of mind that comes with a certain level of compensation.

Likewise, another colleague is very sociable and outgoing, but his Social Relationships score is in the low “Neutral” range. This, he says, is probably because, while he enjoys lots of social interaction and group activities in his personal life—and even in a work environment—it is not something that makes work any more or less meaningful for him.

Most commonly, a new job or a change in role at work can cause a previously low need for Feedback to rise sharply. Becoming a new parent, meanwhile, can increase a person’s requirements around Security and Financial Needs.

We’ve also noted that changes can happen when certain Motivators that were previously unfulfilled become satisfied. The first time I took the Motivation Assessment, for example, my Financial Needs score was quite high. This was because I was in the midst of moving to Tokyo and nervous about living in a big, notoriously expensive city for the first time. Now that I’m more secure in my finances, Financial Needs has dropped to a low “Neutral”, which makes a lot more sense to me than the score I’d had originally.