How Functional Fixedness Is Wrecking Motivation

The following is a TED talk by Dan Pink (a different kind of motivational speaker) entitled "The Puzzle of Motivation." It explains how science tells us one thing, and yet we do the complete opposite. Many companies are set in there minds and in there ways that money is the only motivational factor. If a company is looking to hire anyone, but expressly looking to hire Millennials than they will need more than just to throw money at them. What else can they do? Well Dan Pink offers some solutions to the complex issue of motivation.

If this video is about 18 minutes to long for you to watch, the gist of his speech involves a study that was done by Sam Glucksberg of Princeton University. The candle stick test was implemented in a high pressure situation. The first batch of participants were told to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Then second were told the same thing only this time, they would receive a $5 reward if they were in the top 5 quickest. If they were the absolute quickest, they would receive $20. Now of the two groups of participants, who would you imagine completed the task quicker? It was actually the participants that had more intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation. Those that had the cash incentive habitually preformed worse. This was so not supposed to happen. It was so against what most people see as common since that it was tested multiple times in several different demographics, each time baring similar results.

The problem is, what is common since is not always what is right. That is the issue with functional fixedness. Things that should be one way can be quite the opposite. It is suiting that the candle stick test was the task that Pink chose to talk about. Those who are faced with the candlestick test would have been stumped by the same thing that those tasked with inspiring motivation are stumped by; functional fixedness. Once they overcome functional fixedness both motivators and the participants can find the solution vary easily.


Yet another companion Ted talk, this one by Tom Wujec. Its called Build a tower, build a team

This one has to do with how forward thinking and prototyping creates miraculous results. When things don't work out and functional fixedness lurks is in the way prototyping can be a good way to break past it.