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What is Intrinsic Motivation and Driving Forces?

What we used to call “Motivators” (and before that, “Values”) are now called Driving Forces. These are a measure of a person’s intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. The most recent definition – which expands on the original six Motivators to acknowledge twelve Driving Forces – is more accurate than ever before.

When we understand a person’s Driving Forces, we understand WHY they do things. Whereas DISC measures a person’s behavioral style – helping us understand HOW they do things (communicate, interact, make decisions, organize their work, etc.) – Driving Forces goes deeper.

Driving Forces gives us the reasoning behind a person’s working style, career goals, and personal interests. It helps us understand why some people view others as illogical, and vice versa. It gives us a clear window into a person’s priorities, passions, and strengths.

In turn, this allows us to predict job fit and performance with very high accuracy. It also gives us the exact information needed to motivate someone for their reasons (not ours, which don’t matter to them). It catalyzes a higher level of collaboration and communication across teams. It gives us the ability to help other people the way they want to be helped.

Driving Forces has always been one of my favorite sciences for all of these reasons. It touches at the core of who we are as individuals, and sheds light on our unique dreams – many of which go back to childhood.

You will find people are always working to fulfill their top Driving Forces. If their work does not bring them this fulfillment, expect them to look for it outside of work – perhaps in a hobby, or extracurricular activity.

Additionally, people who are not fulfilling their core Driving Forces at work are at high risk for moving on, since their job is reduced to nothing more than a mere financial transaction – punching a clock and collecting a paycheck.

High Resourceful (High Utilitarian)

We may sometimes call the High Resourceful person a High Utilitarian. This is because the High Resourceful person is one who scores high on the Utilitarian scale.

Key Traits

The High Resourceful person is driven by efficiency and practicality. They are driven to maximize their return on investment (ROI) in everything they do. This includes investments of money, time, energy, people, and any other resources they have at their disposal.

The High Resourceful person wants to build systems to help them optimize their time and money. They tend to be enterprising and many are successful entrepreneurs or salespeople. They will be sensitive to squandering resources and interested in building a financial safety net for themselves and their families.

At Redline

When the High Resourceful person exhibits their Utilitarian nature at high levels, they may become a workaholic – or at least viewed as one by outsiders. Also, while they can be very giving and generous, they will always keep an eye on ROI – and may expect something in return in exchange for their “gifts” to others.

High Resourceful individuals are prone to being materialistic, using wealth as a yardstick to measure success for themselves and others. However, this can be tempered by high emotional intelligence.

Stress Factors

The High Resourceful individual will feel stress when resources are managed inefficiently. They will cringe at a bad investment, and feel quite dejected if not rewarded after a substantial effort. The High Resourceful person is purposeful and tends to have clearly defined goals; falling short of these may induce high levels of stress.

Communication Insights

Better, faster, stronger. That’s all it takes to remember what is important to the High Resourceful person. They need to know how their investment of resources will pay off, and your communication should reflect that you understand this. This is truly at the essence of capturing buy-in from others – showing how a common goal aligns with individual drivers.

Management Insights

When managing someone who is a High Resourceful, keep in mind the importance of financial reward. Salary, raises, bonuses, commissions – this is how your High Resourceful employee measures their success. If they are putting forth great effort but not seeing the financial needle move, expect them to quit as soon as a more lucrative opportunity arises.

To drive a High Resourceful employee into action, hold conversations that explain how their performance will lead to higher earnings for them. The reward can’t be too far off in the future, either, or they may not view the juice as being worth the squeeze. These are bottom line people who need bottom line discussions to fuel growth and performance.

High Selfless (Low Utilitarian)

We may sometimes call the High Selfless person a Low Utilitarian. This is because the High Selfless person is one who scores low on the Utilitarian scale.

Key Traits

The High Selfless person is driven by accomplishing things for the greater good. Unlike the High Resourceful person, they don’t always need to see the ROI involved in every action they take. They have minimal expectation of getting things in return, and are willing to give quite freely of their time and talent to others.

Whereas the High Resourceful person often sees people in terms of “usefulness,” or for what they can provide – the High Selfless person simply sees others for who they are. They tend to value people more for their character and actions, rather than for their measurable contributions towards the bottom line.

At Redline

Being selfless is noble, but as with any of the Driving Forces, the High Selfless person can run into problems when displaying this driver at the extreme. They may waste or misuse resources in an effort to do something for the greater good, and may give without regard to personal circumstance. While they are generally good people, they may find it harder to succeed in business or sales due to their lack of a bottom line focus.

Stress Factors

The High Selfless person will be stressed when forced to focus on the end result without regard for the people or process involved. They do not wish to be judged on their efficiency, and will feel stress if they are only using people as tools to achieve a goal.

Communication Insights

Remember that the High Selfless person tends to be people-oriented. Explain to them how business initiatives will impact the greater good, and you’ll get their buy-in much quicker (than if you base your argument on bottom-line or financial metrics). Talk about who might be included in meetings and projects without concern for resources.

Management Insights

When managing a High Selfless employee, it’s important to remember that you’ll lose them in conversation if you drive hard on results, goals, and tasks. Talk about efficiency and optimization and you’ll bore them to death. While you may need your High Selfless employee to be efficient and perform well, you will only unlock their maximum potential after showing them how their collaboration will lead to big picture positive outcomes for everyone.

As with any of the Driving Forces, this is a simple matter of framing your discussion with the right words – you don’t need to change the content of your message itself.

Conclusion

The High Utilitarian / High Resourceful person is great at spotting inefficiencies and designing systems to save time or money. They tend to make great entrepreneurs and salespeople due to their enterprising, results-oriented nature. On the other hand, the High Selfless person makes for a great team player and will tend to stay focused on the bigger picture. They are more willing to lend a helping hand, even to their detriment at times, if it means some good is being done in the world.

Both the High Resourceful and High Selfless individuals are great additions to any team. Depending on the specific role, though, you must understand which style will perform better and incorporate that information into your hiring decision. Furthermore, managers and employees alike will benefit from understanding each others’ drivers and speaking to them – rather than speaking to their own.