Meaningful and Complex Work: An Exercise to Help Students Understand Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are simple concepts that our students seem to quickly understand, yet few of our students grasp the complexity of sustaining intrinsic motivation. This exercise aims to help students better understand that complexity. Students are given a two-part scenario. In Part 1, the individual motives to innovate are intrinsic (e.g., to have societal impact); in Part 2, the individual is faced with realities that constrain the impact of the innovation (e.g., policies to protect idea ownership and profit). The scenario is purposefully based on an important topic unfamiliar to students (childhood cancer research), which provides an opportunity for inductive learning, and keeps student perceptions between Part 1 and Part 2 separate. The exercise allows for discussion of motivation theory, incentives, ethical decision making, and transformational leadership. In advanced entrepreneurship classes the exercise may help students understand intrapreneurship and technology commercialization. The exercise pairs well with Kerr’s classic article, “The folly of rewarding A . . . ,” on the juxtaposition between goals and incentives. Suggestions for an article and video on childhood cancer research are also provided for the instructor to use to increase perceptions of validity of the scenario. Target audiences for this exercise include undergraduate, graduate, and executive groups