If you doubt the power of ideas, consider the pervasive
influence of the notion of ‘motivation’ in contemporary culture.
People use and practice the term in child raising, education,
and work in both the private and public sectors. This is part 2
of a 7-part article series titled "Forget Motivation: It's Time
to Engage". An enormous body of research on the topic includes
more than 10,000 dissertations and nearly as many book titles
resting on library shelves. Hundreds of articles appear each
year in business, trade, and academic journals. Motivators
keynote conventions and meetings across the county. A simple
Google search on the term instantaneously returns over 50
million hits. How can one doubt the importance of motivation?
It’s time to start doubting because it doesn’t work. A
HISTORICAL BACKWARD GLANCE At its core motivation theory is
about human behavior. In mid-20th century thinking the school of
behaviorism dominated psychological studies. Rooted in the
experiments of Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov on