Trying to Motivate People is a Waste of Time
Audio Transcript
Return to audioOne of the things we learned in Good to Great is that spending time trying to motivate people is a complete waste of time. Spending time trying to manage people is a complete waste of time. What you want to do is find people who are self-motivated. You want to create a climate in which you don’t do stupid things to demotivate already self-motivated people.
The right people on the bus are self-motivated. If somebody’s not self-motivated, they’re the wrong person on the bus, period, full stop. And if somebody isn’t self-disciplined, they’re the wrong person on the bus, period, full stop. So, this notion of the need to discipline people, the need to motivate people, the need to manage people, just absolutely melts away when you start with the right people.