Money Motivation

After watching the semi-finals of “The Apprentice”, I was left wondering about one issue. In certain characteristics, I do identify myself with Lucinda, the person who got fired tonight. The reason that she got fired was because Sir Alan felt that she was not suitable for his organisation.

One of her interview questions struck a chord with me. She was asked if she was motivated by money and she said ‘No’. I have been asked this question before and I have also answered ‘No’. I know that it is not the right answer to give, especially if you’re dealing with a profit driven corporate environment, but that’s the truth. To me, money is not an end in itself, but only a means to achieve an end. Even then, it is not the only means to achieve any end. So, money does not have much motivational affect on me. Money is merely one measure of success and certainly not the most important one.

Another issue that the interviewers had with her, was that they didn’t think that she was a team player. She has spent her time as an external contractor, working independently. When she was put in charge of the teams, twice, she performed well and was liked by the rest of her team. But there were problems when she had to work under someone else and she had problems adjusting and there were complaints that she undermined the leadership of others. She was also considered an odd-ball, consistently side-lined by the others. This made her a little too zany for Sir Alan’s organisation and she was ultimately fired.

I have a similar problem myself. I have spent most of my life self employed, either working independently, or leading a small team. When I do work under someone else, I will have problems, if the leader is incompetent. I do not suffer fools gladly, regardless of whether they are above or under me. And what’s worst, I will make it clearly known that I feel this way. This is possibly the biggest problem, that makes me unemployable.

In my case, I’m very certain that I’d be able to positively contribute to any organisation, as long as I’m working under a boss who takes criticism well, even when it comes from under him, and with a team that’s open minded enough to accept odd-ballness. I have had my fair share of working under incompetent leaders, but it’s only the bodoh sombong ones who have a problem with me. When I attack a policy decision, I’m not attacking the person who made it. I think the trouble is that some people take things too personally. My straightforwardness doesn’t help matter either.

I don’t see anything inherently wrong with this. It just means that I am fated to try to find my own way in this world. Not everyone is born to be a team player. You have got to have some team leaders as well as independents. In fact, I’d argue that all kinds of people are needed in an organisation. However, it’s the practice of most organisations to hire like minded individuals to reduce the amount of internal discord and dissent, which is detrimental.

As a result, an inanimate object like a corporation, ends up acquiring a character. That’s how you can have things like a Chinaman Company, which is generally characterised by it’s extreme shrewdness. Thankfully, there are also other kinds of organisations, the kind that are not entirely driven by profit. However, whether or not these organisations are sustainable in the long term, is yet to be seen.

PS: Time to think of how to set up a Social-Technoprise.