Understanding what drives us and keeps us motivated, especially during challenging times, is essential for personal and professional success. In today’s article, we are not going to be talking about ‘what someone is motivated by, i.e. money, fame, friendships, mastery or meaning’, but how you can leverage critical people data to inform practical communication strategies to shift responses of change from friction to flow. Let’s lift the lid on the concept of Motivation Style, as explored in Ross Thornley's "Decoding AQ: Your Greatest Superpower."
Knowing our Motivation Style and that of our team members is pivotal in understanding why we strive to achieve goals. The academic lens of regulatory focus theory helps us decipher this by distinguishing between two systems of motivation: "promotion" focus and "prevention" focus.
Neither one is ‘BETTER’ than the other, it is about knowing both your own and their why. Armed with this data, we can save countless hours of hard work, heartache, disengagement and even sabotage, by connecting on a personalised basis with these insights. Increase stakeholder buy-in, speed up change and ultimately achieve more desired outcomes.
Traditional motivation can be categorized into two main types:
Understanding these distinctions and nuances is crucial for identifying what triggers and sustains our motivation in various contexts.
Recent studies link motivation styles to types of creativity. For instance, a promotion focus can foster radical new ideas, while a prevention focus might enhance systematic, detailed-oriented creativity. These insights can explain differences in work outcomes, performance levels, and adaptability strategies.
We are excited to be able to share a peer-reviewed paper which is going to be published later this year on this topic from our data.
Beyond Dualities: Unraveling the Influence of Regulatory Focus and Paradox Mindset on Workplace Ambidexterity
ABSTRACT
This study explores how regulatory focus influences ambidextrous behavior in employees, with a particular emphasis on the moderating role of a paradox mindset. Conducted with 206 employees from a large U.S. financial institution, the research reveals a significant relationship between an individual’s regulatory focus and their ambidexterity at work. Specifically, a higher promotion focus leads to increased exploration, whereas a higher prevention focus correlates with greater exploitation. The study also investigates the interaction between promotion and prevention focus, finding that one focus often dominates in the performance of exploration. Crucially, it demonstrates that a paradox mindset can moderate the relationship between regulatory focus and ambidexterity, suggesting that this mindset helps employees balance exploration and exploitation more effectively. These findings contribute to our understanding of individual-level ambidexterity and highlight the importance of cognitive mindsets in enhancing organizational adaptability and competitiveness.
In the AQme assessment model, Motivation Style is measured on a continuum from "Play to Protect" to "Play to Win":
The adoption of video conferencing software like Zoom illustrates these motivation styles. Companies with a "Play to Win" attitude adopted the technology early, recognizing its potential advantages, less travel, global reach and efficiency gains. Conversely, companies forced to adapt during the pandemic often did so out of necessity, exemplifying a "Play to Protect" mindset, not losing the ability to communicate with their teams and clients.
Understanding your Motivation Style can significantly impact how you approach change and achieve your goals. By recognizing whether you "Play to Protect" or "Play to Win," you can tailor your strategies to better align with your intrinsic drives and external circumstances. Even better, when you scale these insights to your teams, departments and company wide.
If you are curious about your Motivation Style and how it influences your adaptability, we invite you to take your AQ assessment and discover your Motivation Style.
Start optimizing your strategies for personal and professional growth!
Copyright adaptai Ltd. All rights reserved. AQ® and AQai® are registered trademarks of adaptai Ltd.
.png)
.png)
