Development for development sake!?
“OK, I will try to develop at collaborating more, let’s see if I am then found suitable for the next role” …said a coaching client to me disdainfully as he made his development plan, sounding resigned and pained. And I wondered, why does working on his development sound like such a burden to him?
Everyone is excited to develop, get better, learn new things, try their hand at more. Every human being is motivated…to get a better life, better relationships, better health, better food, better holidays…..it’s in our DNA to want to get “better”! Why then do development activities that can make us better, become chores and not remain as enjoyable?
Well, the villain is really the questions that pop up in our head….“What after I develop? What will I get? Will I get my promotion? By when can I expect my next role? Will I get that overseas posting? Questions about “how will my development be rewarded” replaces the initial feelings of excitement and motivation with anxiety, stress and doubt.
That is when we see the magic of development fade. Questions of reward pollute the development journey and make it a chore instead of making it wondrous and exciting.
It is the classic case of how external rewards kill intrinsic motivation. External rewards kill the what is naturally joyful to humans and this was adequately proven in an interesting research by . Psychologists Mark R. Lepper and David Greene from Stanford. Children who intrinsically loved painting were given rewards to paint. It was seen that once rewarded, the expected reward had decreased the amount of spontaneous interest the children took in drawing, and that also by Half!. So, those who had previously enjoyed drawing were less interested in it once they expected that they would be rewarded for the activity. Not only this, but also the aesthetic appeal and creativity of the children’s’ pictures dropped once the reward was introduced! (http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/10/how-rewards-can-backfire-and-reduce-motivation.php)
So I ask, friends, why seek external reward for developing yourself? Why not develop for development sake? For the sheer joy of it! Why not feed your mind and feed your soul with things that invigorate you, challenge you, broaden your experiences and abilities. When you do it for the love of doing it, you are going to build something beautiful and make yourself stronger. With passion behind it, you will carve out a well-chiselled version of yourself. Believe that somewhere, sooner or later, you will find the right fit for who you are. Development is never wasted. Why equate the reward of development with money, position or power? Why not enjoy the fruits of development in terms of what you can additionally do, the happier relationships you can enjoy and the more productive person you can become. It is true, just like water finds its own level, you too will find the right opportunities to use your abilities and talents that you have spent time developing.
Go out there and choose development goals that matter to YOU. That you feel are meaningful and motivating to you. Don’t choose development goals because they will give others what they want and hence reward you indirectly with what you want. It is important for you to feel vested in the goals you choose for what they intrinsically give you, in terms of satisfaction and meaning and are intrinsically rewarding. And watch the magic….. as you grow, evolve into being more of yourself. Go ahead, develop yourself for the sake of development. It’s worth it, in itself.