Creed Over Greed

Mike Griffiths is an experienced project manager, author and consultant who works for PMI as a subject matter expert. Before joining PMI, Mike consulted and managed innovation and technology projects throughout Europe, North and South America for 30+ years. He was co-lead for the PMBOK Guide—Seventh Edition, lead for the Agile Practice Guide, and contributor to the PMI-ACP and PMP exam content outlines. Outside of PMI, Mike maintains the websites www.LeadingAnswers.com about leading teams and www.PMillustrated.com, which teaches project management for visual learners.

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Topics: Organizational Culture, Talent Management

There have been a couple of news stories in the last month that reveal some important facts about motivation and purpose. Let’s have a look…

1. Ex-Tesla Workers Are Still Believers: Some people’s reactions over being fired from Tesla last week surprised many analysts. Rather than the normal angry barbs (and I am sure there were plenty of those), what made the news were the messages of thanks from the now ex-employees explaining how they enjoyed their time there and were glad to be a part of it. Some of the Tweets included:

• “Thanks for the opportunity, Elon! Eye on the mission. Will always be proud to say I worked for Tesla”
• “I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed working for Tesla”
• “I was laid off from Tesla yesterday and although it hurts (a lot!), it is the right thing for the company. I don’t regret giving all I had and in a way bidding adieu is my last contribution. I’ll be cheering Tesla on knowing I did my part. Thanks for the years of memories!”

(A Bloomberg article, Fired Tesla Workers Still Love Elon Musk, recaps some of the comments.)

2. Enlightened Pessimism: From a reverse perspective, a recent Science Direct article found that employees who practice mindfulness meditation are less motivated, having realized the futility of their jobs. It seems that when people learn…

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