If I told you money is not a good work incentive would you believe me? Yeah, you might. But what if I told you that money as an incentive can actually lower your performance, would you believe me then? Well it’s true, and science backs this up.

This is the point that Dan Pink has been trying to spread lately. In the video above we’re introduced to some very interesting research that has proven, once and again that performance is not tied to monetary rewards when it comes to even marginally intellectual tasks. Sure it works for mechanical, repetitive, well structured work like manual labor. It was in fact from this kind of labor that we derived our whole current monetary incentive work model. But it does not carry into intellectual work where there are not many rules, no clear outcomes and the demand for creative thinking is high.

So then, what’s the solution? The solution, according to Dan Pink, relies on intrinsic motivators, namely autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Autonomy

This relates to our basic need for freedom. Kingdoms and regimes have fallen because of this need and it stands just as strong in each of us when it comes to our work. Google has famously put this into practice by implementing the 20% time rule, where you can work on whatever project you want, with absolute freedom, for 20% of your work hours. If you’ve ever worked under a micromanaging boss you know how fast the lack of freedom can make you miserable on an otherwise enjoyable job.

Mastery

We humans are a species obsessed with perfection, with the results of mastering a skill. This is why we have athletes, musicians, gurus, et cetera. When your job gives you room to master skills you enjoy you’re bound to put more effort into it.

Purpose

This I think is the biggest one. When the purpose of your work is strong enough you can completely forgo the other two. This is what drives paramedics, soldiers in the battlefield, firefighters and even terrorists. When your work means something to others, when you feel you are making a difference in the world or your community you will feel good about doing it, I guarantee you.

Steve Jobs at apple has famously achieved this. Apple makes computers and personal electronics. So does Dell, HP and many others. Yet you don’t see them command the same amount of loyalty from both its employees and its customers. Why is that? Because at apple purpose is king. The goal is to change the way people interact with each other, to challenge the status quo in everything they do. That’s not a job, that’s a mission. It’s compelling and meaningful. You don’t have to work at apple or be a soldier to be moved by purpose though. Every job has a value to society but more often than not this purpose is shoved to the background instead of using it to motivate us.

As revolutionary as this may seem it’s really something we’ve already known in our hearts. We’ve all had those jobs that paid the bills but still made us feel like crap, money has never been the answer. It’s time to change the management mindset to reflect it.

When you’re working for the weekend you’re hurting everyone, since you’re unsatisfied with your work odds are your output is going to suck. Sure you might keep a standard out of necessity or nagging but as the weeks and months and years roll on you know your work will start slipping and you’ll even feel anger against your job. Every time you sneak in 5 minutes, 10 minutes to check on Facebook or Digg or your personal email you’ll do so with a sense that you’re somehow cheating the system and getting some justice by your own hands.

Does this sound familiar?

That’s not good for your employer clearly, but it’s even worse for you! You’re living unhappily 5 or 6 days a week only to feel a fleeting respite for a day or two on the weekend. That’s not living well! Sheesh, lets look at the freaking numbers, You’ll be working for at least 40 years, working at least 5 days a week for a day or two of actual living. That’s 2080 weeks of suffering rather than living! How does it look?

It does not look good. Keep in mind those bars are not sales estimates or a budget comparison, that’s your life. If there’es ever been a bleak picture I’d say that’s one. So what do you do? You stop, right now.

Stop and go find work you love. Find a company that does fantastic work and get into it, or better yet start your own. Go and seek work that feels like play, work so fulfilling that if you have to work 48 hours straight it feels like a treat. It does’t matter how specific or abstract your passion is, I assure you there’s a demand for it out there. Your passion is talking to people? There’s a thousand jobs out there that would make you happy. Your passion is Battlestar Galactica? Fuck it, if Trekkies can make a living out of it so can you.

Start today.

Facing criticism and cynicism is something that anyone on a creative endeavor will have to deal with on a constant basis. I know I’ve dealt with a lot of it for my other projects and even for this blog, new as it may be. It is something that you’ll be facing if you’re doing something worth doing.

Teddy Roosevelt said it best:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly”

When you’re following your pasion, when you are daring to make something on your own you can bet your ass that people will be not only critizicing you but ridiculing you. My take on it is that when you get critiziced or ridiculed that’s a day to celebrate. That’s a clear sing that you’re reaching people, that they care enough about what you’re doing that they’ll come out and talk about you, even in a negative light.

It might even be the case that your first critics will be either family or friends trying to get you back into your senses or get your feet on the ground, etc. They’ll imply you’re crazy (which you are, but that’s ok), that you’ll never make it, that there’s already dozens of other people or companies doing what you want to do. Believe it or not they are actually saying this out of honest concern, but they are also saying it out of fear. So how should you cope with all this negativity? Here’s a few points which should help you overcome it.

Understand Your Critics

Unless the criticism you’re getting is evidently constructive there’s really only one reason for criticism: fear.

Critics are trying to put you down because you’re trying to upset the status quo and that is scary. Critics are trying to put you down because you are doing something they want to but dont dare to do, and that’s scary. Critics are trying to put you down because you are proving that anyone is able to control their own destiny, and that’s scary as hell.

That last one is specially true for those close to you, they feel your projects and adventures as you leaving them behind and that can scare the living crap out of anyone.

Get Wiser From It

All criticism is reactionary, it’s happening because you did something. It’s Newtonian. Take a minute to see why it happened, there’s always wisdom to be gained out of critics. I’m not saying that you should find out how to please all your critics, not at all! I’m saying that the reason people are taking enough note to criticize you might not be evident to you and yet it may be something that you’re doing right! Don’t just try and replicate what evidently pleases your core audience, what’s pissing off your detractors might just be another of your strengths.

In The End, Haters Gonna Hate

When you are doing something right and you are staying true to your pasions you will never please everyone and that’s a good thing. When you try and please everyone you quickly go down the path of blandness and mediocrity. You and whatever you do are not meant for everyone, don’t focus on the wrong crowd of critics, haters and cynics, focus on your core audience. Realize that as your audience grows so will that small percentage of people who hate your guts. It’s as much a measure of your success as anything else.

As the meme goes, haters gonna hate. You just gotta keep moving on.

Great storytelling isn’t just something great writers can do, it’s a skill that’s present in every great leader. Strangely enough it’s a skill that’s very rarely taught for the business or political world. You’ll see it as a performance art, as a skill for writers of all kinds but seldomly with focus outside of the arts and entertainment. It’s hard to find concrete advice on how to craft and tell stories, specially advice from master storytellers. That’s what makes the following videos remarkable. In this series of four videos Ira Glass, famous for the fantastic radio show & podcast This American Life, goes into many of the specifics of good storytelling. The videos focus on video and audio productions but most of the advice applies just as well to written or spoken storytelling.

The Key Points:

It’s More Than The Facts

Storytelling is not just about the facts, it’s about the emotions and ideas surrounding those facts. The story provides context and meaning to those facts.

Use Anecdotes

It’s the most basic form of storytelling. One action leading to another and another, it creates momentum even out of the most boring events.

Raise Questions And Answer Them

This is the bait to keep your listener’s attention. If the house is quiet then you must tell the audience why it’s quiet.

Always Have A Moment Of Reflection

This is where you make a point and it’s the reason people have stuck along with your story. It doesn’t matter how great a story is, if there’s no point it will fall flat.

Don’t Be Afraid To Kill Crap

If the end result of your story is not as great as it should be dont be afrait to scrap it. In fact you should enjoy killing bad stories as they make way for new and better ones.

Persevere Through Your Own Crap

When you have just started honing your storytelling skills your results will often feel lacking and a little lame. This is normal, just keep working as much as you can and the gap between your taste and your skill will eventually close. Dont give up!

Act Naturally, Talk Naturally, Be Yourself

You might be tempted to try and sound or act as you think someone telling a story should talk or act. Truth is, the more genuine you are the more you’ll keep your audience engaged.

It’s Not About Yourself

Even if the story is literally about yourself, dont make it look that way. There are other characters in every story and you must make it a point to shine light into their perspective or your perspective of them. Storytelling at its core is drama and you cant have drama with just one character.

And that’s it, some pretty sound and concrete advice from one of the most compelling storytellers of our time. Some of it might seem like common sense but when on the spot, common sense tends to flee. If you’ve got any other storytelling or presentation advice, feel free to share it!

It has been months since the last post on Ivanismo, I’ve missed it a lot. Just a few days ago I left my Job, it was not an unexpected decision, just one that happened a few months sooner than I had expected. I will miss the people and the work I did a lot but the lessons learned and the mistakes made will forever enrich my life.

Without going into unnecessary detail I left my job because I was no longer happy in it and it was turning me into someone I didn’t want to be. It is never, never too early or too late to pursue better things. While I prepare myself to find my next adventure in life I’m retaking focus on my passions: public speaking, storytelling, leadership and problem solving. I’ll be writing a lot on these subjects in the coming days. It is not that I’m exceptionally good at any of these, it’s that I’m captivated by the way they make me feel and the power they can have to change people’s lives.

One cant have happiness without truth and truth is ever-changing, following them takes courage and a little love for chaos. I don’t know about courage but I do love chaos. The journey continues, who’s with me?

The world thrives on entrepreneurship, in business, art, science and even spirituality. All the great names written in history, famous or infamous, were of entrepreneurs. Those who felt compelled to do more and better.

But what lies at the core of that complex and elusive quality in life? In the heart of the entrepreneur lies conflict, a never-ending struggle between what is and what could be. An everlasting urge to do more, to do better. It’s a gift, for it propels you to better yourself and what you do. It is a curse because a true entrepreneur will never feel comfortable, his urge will never leave him alone, it dictates a self-imposed fate that they must fulfill.

This is specially true for those who, because of fear or doubt, try to escape this voice of fate. The entrepreneurial urge will not give them peace, it will slowly drain them of their spirit until they heed the call or until they succeed in ignoring it. Those who succeed at ignoring the call will be rewarded with a feeling of unaccomplishment and a subtle sadness because of what, for their will, never was.

You, you feel this urge, don’t wait a moment more. Every second you ignore your entrepreneurial spirit is a second you feel you die a bit inside.

Lets not be naive, entrepreneurship’s other name is greed but greed is what makes us better as individuals, as communities and as a species. Greed is neither inherently bad nor good, it is simply a drive for more, for better. When pointed inward greed is destructive, those who want power for the sake of power, those who amass money to measure self worth. Successful as they may be, these characters are never satisfied with what they take. When pointed outward greed becomes be the most constructive force of mankind. It is the urge to give more, to do more, to make things better, not only for ourselves, but for our community, whichever that may be.

The entrepreneurial spirit is destined to chase a moving target, a never-ending uphill battle against itself. Those who use their urge selfishly will forever feel like they are losing the battle, successful as they may be, they can only derive fleeting contentment from their physical gains. Those who use their greed to serve will discover that their entrepreneurial spirit derives happiness from the wellness and betterment they leave behind in their journey.

In the end though, no fate is worse than those who never dared follow the call.

Not everyone is an entrepreneur and the reason for that is an entirely different subject but for those who are, and you know who you are, the message is clear: follow the call, fulfill your self-imposed destiny, pursue happiness in your journey and never, ever, give up.

The other day I came across a new company called Get Satisfaction. Its basically a place where users can start forums for specific companies, products or services and discuss them or get support for them. Any user can start a forum for any company and some companies are joining in and giving official support on Get Satisfaction.

There’s a very clear message here, in this age, if you don’t talk to your customers they will talk among themselves, if your official support sucks they will make one better. They don’t need your permission and you cant ignore them anymore. You can either join them in their conversation and give your customers the love they deserve or you can try to stop them. Guess what smart companies are doing?

Wired has an article on its April issue titled How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong. It tells the story of Apple’s management style, how while in Silicon Valley management is going for the open route, being empowering and comforting to its employees, Apple is going the opposite route. Its corporate culture values extreme secrecy, empowerment is a dirty word at the company and micromanagement is on the menu everyday.

At the top of it all is Steve Jobs, founder of Apple and fearless leader of the company. Colleagues and employees describe him as “totally in the zone”, he inspires both zeal and  fear in every employee. Jobs oversees every aspect of the company and of every product. If the curves of a letter in the iPhone’s font weren’t to his liking it had to be changed.

This old-school management style is reminiscent of a communist dictator, the fearless leader. A former senior executive at apple even likened Apple’s internal management to a terrorist cell scheme. Yet it works, against all common sense of today’s management practices, Apple’s management works and it has propelled it to the top of the tech market.

But for how long? Steve Jobs may indeed be a genius and its true he is rarely wrong but Apple isn’t Steve Jobs. What happens when the genius is no more? Is Apple so dependant on Jobs’ magic touch that it would collapse in his absence? That’s exactly what happened when Jobs left apple in 1985. Great management should serve the company, not the other way around. Is your company under the rule of a fearless leader? Is it ready for the future?