Podcast appearances and mentions of vega factor

Neel Doshi reveals how to build and sustain high performing cultures through total motivation. — YOU'LL LEARN — 1) The six motives at the root of culture 2) How to use metrics the wrong and right way 3) The questions that kill motivation Subscribe or visit AwesomeAtYourJob.com/ep1013 for clickable versions of the links below. — ABOUT NEEL — Neel is the co-founder of Vega Factor and co-author of bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. Previously, Neel was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, CTO and founding member of an award-winning tech startup, and employee of several mega-institutions. He studied engineering at MIT and received his MBA from Wharton. In his spare time, he's an avid yet mediocre woodworker and photographer.• Book: Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation• Website: Factor.ai— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW — • Study: “Poverty impedes cognitive function” by Anandi Mani, Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir, and Jiaying Zhao• Book: Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future by Mike Maples and Peter Ziebelman— THANK YOU, SPONSORS! —• Lingoda. Visit try.lingoda.com/Awesome and save up to 20% off your sign up fee! Plus, get an extra $25 off with the code AWESOME • LinkedIn Jobs. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/beawesome• Jenni Kayne. Use the code AWESOME15 to get 15% off your order!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the latest episode of Alloutcoach, I spoke to Neel Doshi whose research on human motivation and performance at work has truly inspired me over the years. Watch this video podcast to understand why I consider him one of the brightest minds in organizational change research who has created forward-thinking solutions that can transform your business. Neel Doshi is Co-founder and CEO of Vega Factor and Factor.AI, NY Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author of "Primed to Perform", multiple award-winning founder of various tech startups, MIT graduate in engineering and Wharton Business School MBA. 0:00 Intro 0:08 Episode Highlight 1:52 Neel Doshi Introduction 3:30 Why Neel decided to study human performance at work His journey from first job as software engineer at major bank and personal frustration from lack fulfillment and mediocre attempt at starting a company to researching the root causes and drivers of human motivation at work for the next 15 years 7:56 Various types of industries Neel Doshi has researched 8:58 Distinguishing and Ranking Tactical vs. Adaptive Types of Performance at work Tactical Performance refers to alignment to roles, objectives, and goals while adaptive performance refers to innovation, problem-solving, and improvisation. 13:23 Measuring Motivation to produce both Tactical and Adaptive Performance at Factor.AI Research indicates 6 motivational factors along a spectrum of stimulating or inhibiting performance: 1) play 2) purpose 3) potential (3 positive factors that stimulate adaptive performance), followed by 4) emotional pressure, 5) economic pressure, and 6) inertia (3 negative / inhibiting factors) in descending order 21:42 Tesla Model 3 Mass Market Case Study Real-world example confirming that relying completely on Tactical Performance alone through technology is insufficient and detrimental, and Adaptive Performance via human capacity to think critically is central to driving growth in business. Elon Musk's 2009 Tweet: "Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated". 24:50 How do you measure performance through profitability vs social impact? Majority of the motivation of performance is local to the employee not global to the company. This is why social impact is not a driver of motivation or performance. 29:20 How to both perform and collaborate today when the pace of competition is rising so rapidly. Companies do not have to turn increasing external competition and global pressures into coersion and blame. They can make competition fun. Competition can make work more purposeful because an employee can feel like he/she matters more in the presence of an adversary. Companies turn competition into pressure rather than play and purpose. Play and purpose, our highest performance motivators are not bound by a limit and do not represent a zero-sum game unlike emotional or economic pressure, for example. So if companies are using emotional or economic pressure or indirect motives to drive performance they are fracturing collaboration by design. Collaboration suffers, and so does problem-solving and adaptive performance. When I do not have companies I work with that have internal competition, I create competitions. 35:13 What are some examples of new ways of working to drive higher motivation at work? Hierarchies and distinct roles are important to communicate diverse vantage points and perspectives. Metrics make work more fun because they provide a scoreboard to a game and can drive stronger performance as long as they are not weaponized by leaders. Similarly, performance reviews should be used not to blame and shame people but should involve teams to evaluate team performance together rather than use individual reviews to measure teams. 45:10 How Neel is currently stretching himself and lifting others Engineering stronger performance has become a science and there are specific solutions we have now built that are available for you.

Show Notes: Lindsay McGregor discusses her firm's focus on building high-performing organizations. She explains that the highest performing organizations motivate people in a specific way, unlocking play, purpose, and potential for the problem they're solving. The firm trains leaders to be inspirational and consults with organizations on designing their operating models. She shares a story about how the firm explained the deeper concepts of play at work, and how implementing these concepts of play was worth millions of dollars to the fund's portfolio managers every year. Play is often seen as something we do during our hobbies, but when we feel engaged by what we're solving, we perform at our best.  Utilizing Play Concepts for Growth Management Lindsay talks about the tools used to facilitate the play process and shares a sample engagement with a client who was the founder of a tech company that had scaled rapidly and the former processes no longer worked. Lindsay shares examples of the challenges faced  in managing a team due to the rapid growth of the organization, including issues of talent retention, burn out, and AI adoption. To address these issues, Lindsay's firm found three simple, easy-to-implement routines: goal checks, health checks, and skill checks. She shares a story that demonstrates the benefit of problem solving activities. She explores each routine and explains that, by focusing on these strategies, companies can ensure their teams are equipped to handle the demands of their rapidly growing environment and maintain a competitive edge. Outcome-related Goals, Process-related Goals, and Idea-related Goals The conversation moves to outcome-related, idea-related, and process-related goals in a company. Lindsay emphasizes the importance of tracking process metrics and idea metrics to track how many ideas or experiments are being run. Aggressive goals can lead to increased effort, but it's crucial to manage experimentation and work smarter instead. For example, a tech company's recruiter had to fill double the number of jobs in the coming quarter than she normally does. By breaking down her goal into six categories, AI helped her create five sub goals that focused on working smarter, not harder. This allowed her and her leader to focus on creatively adapting their approach. Team Alignment, Strategy, and Outcome Goals In some organizations, having a senior leader join the goal meetings and challenges can be powerful, as it allows senior leaders to help block the team and identify blockers that are outside of their control. This creates a sense of understanding and cooperation between the team and the executive. The quarterly health process and skill check are essential for ensuring the right goals are set and the team has the necessary skills to accomplish them. Motivation in the workforce is a key factor in achieving success. A study found that people who learn valuable skills on the job and have good work-life balance are more motivated. However, many find learning new skills difficult, as it is often seen as a big training or time-consuming process. Lindsay talks about the problem of skills gaps and how to deal with this issue. Lindsay also mentions the benefits of remote work culture, which can be great but requires more intentional skill building, and offers a few approaches to team skill building.  Vega Factor Certification for Consultants The discussion revolves around the firm's resources and tools for consultants to access, such as goal checks, health checks, and skill checks. One of their current offerings is a platform called Factor, which enables consultants to run goal checks, health checks, and skills checks. They train and certify consultants to do these checks with their organizations. The certification and training process for using the platform is a six-part learning session that goes deep into how to conduct these checks. The platform is designed to help consultants and leaders retain top performers by putting in place good processes, making it easier for them to problem solve with their teams. Lindsay talks about the popular training sessions, including how to solve problems cross functionally, and how to make cross-functional collaboration and problem-solving easy for high performers. One of the leaders mentioned that this way of asynchronous problem-solving brought depth, breadth, and lightness to his job. He was able to go deeper into the problems, look at the solutions, and make informed decisions. In conclusion, the firm's platform offers valuable resources and tools for consultants and leaders to improve their work and retain top performers. High Performers and the Play Processes Companies need to focus on retaining high performers and fostering a culture of play, purpose, and potential. High performers are more likely to leave a company that is bureaucratic and dysfunctional, while non-high performers are more likely to stay due to the perks and benefits they receive. Millennials are more skeptical than ever about the value of work, and they tend to see it as a transactional decision. However, high performers know that work can be meaningful, important, and impactful. To help them realize this, companies should focus on fostering a culture of play, purpose, and potential. The Genesis of Vega Factor Lindsay explains that the firm's journey began with researching what makes a high-performing company and culture. They wanted to understand if there was a quantitative, productive way to build a high-performing culture. They measured hundreds of factors from psychology and business best practices across thousands of people and hundreds of companies. They found that employees from companies like Home Depot and Lowe's answered questions differently, and that their performance management systems and leader behavior were also different. The research was conducted through market research firms, where they found that employees from companies with similar systems answered questions differently. They also found that when the survey was administered internally by the company, there was a consistent increase in positivity, which they believe occurs because people don't trust the anonymity of their survey. The firm's website offers screenshots, interactive tools, and tips for implementation. They also provide links to download research.  Timestamps: 04:43 Using goal, health, and skill checks to improve company performance 09:35 Goal setting and performance, with a focus on problem-solving goals 13:04 Using AI to help teams work smarter, not harder, and improve team health through goal setting and problem-solving 17:40 Teamwork, motivation, and skill development in the workplace 23:30 Apprenticeship-based learning in consulting and remote work culture 28:50 Using AI to improve team performance and retain top performers 34:35 Motivating high performers and millennial employees through problem-solving processes Links: The website: https://www.factor.ai/ Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

In this episode John and Tricia talk with guest, Rich Dec and explore the Motive Spectrum by Vega Factor. Tune in to hear about organizations and leaders use this model to shift their cultures and their personal leadership style.Download the model and the episode transcript here.Show Notes:HBR article How Company Culture Shapes Employee Motivation : https://hbr.org/2015/11/how-company-culture-shapes-employee-motivationConnect with Rich on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-dec-a775062/Learn even more about the model at the Vega Factor Website: https://www.vegafactor.com/ 

Today, we're delighted to be joined by Neel Doshi. Neel is a co-author of worldwide best selling book Primed to Perform, and also co-founder of Vega Factor, building high performing cultures through the science of total motivation. If you want people to be engaged in their work, you have to make their work engaging. Neel chats to Roger about what motivation means, how motivation drives performance and how organisations can manage motivation.  Enjoy the episode!   Read Primed to Perform

Geçtiğimiz hafta Vega Factor'de Yüksek Performans'tan sorumlu yönetici Rich Dec ile yaptığımız söyleşinin Türkçe özetini sizinle paylaşıyorum.  Rich Dec, Cornell Üniversitesi'nde Endüstri Mühendisliği ve yöneylem araştırması okumuş. Vega Factor'deki yüksek performans bölümünü yönetiyor. Aynı zamanda danışmanlık, yönetici koçluğu ve konuşmacılık yapıyor. Vega Factor modeli motivasyonu doğrudan (içsel) ve dolaylı (dışsal) etkenlere ayırıyor. Yüksek performans, yüksek TOMO'da (toplam motivasyon) yani "oyun, amaç ve potansiyel"in, "duygusal baskı, ekonomik baskı ve atalet"e ağır bastığında ortaya çıkıyor. Rich, şirketlerin genellikle taktik performansa (planınıza ne kadar bağlı kaldığınıza) odaklandığını, ancak uyarlanabilir performansa (planınızdan ne kadar doğru ayrıldığınıza) ve arkasındaki nedenlere çok fazla odaklanmadığını açıkladı. Aslında, her yüksek performans gösteren organizasyonun veya kişinin ikisine de ihtiyacı vardır.Rich ayrıca motivasyon faktörlerinin örneklerinden, yapının ve liderin motivasyon üzerindeki rolünden bahsetti. Etkili toplantıların nasıl yürütülebileceği, takımlara güvenin nasıl aşılanacağı ve hatta bir 4.sınıf öğrencisini ödevini yapması için nasıl motive edebileceğimize dair çok pratik ipuçları paylaştı.Rich'e katkılarından ve dinleyicilerimizin özel ve iş hayatında kendine geliştirebilmeleri için verdiği destekten ötürü teşekkür ederim. Rich'in Linkedin Profili:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-dec-a775062/Vega Factor'ün web sitesi:https://www.vegafactor.com/

Lindsay McGregor is the co-founder of Vega Factor and co-author of bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation.  Previously, Lindsay led projects at McKinsey & Company, working with large fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, universities and school systems.  In this episode she shares the concept of Total Motivation, or ToMo—a simple theory based on the idea that why people work determines how well they work. She'll walk us through the six reasons why people work—three leading to higher performance and three leading to lower performance—and how to measure and manage them all. What is so powerful about her approach is that ultimately it enables you to take something that is often considered "soft" and "squishy"—culture—and turn it into something tangible you can actually measure, track, and manage. __________________________________________________________________________________________"Your reason for working will change what you do. And there's a spectrum of reasons why people do anything...it can range because you're working because you love the work itself. -Lindsay McGregor__________________________________________________________________________________________Episode Timeline:00:00—Introducing Rita McGrath + The topic of today's episode1:27—If you really know me, you know that...2:01—What would you say you're known for?4:04—What is your definition of strategy?5:36—What got you interested in strategy?7:00—The Total Motivation (Tomo) Model9:34—Indirect negative motives11:55—Thinking of Tomo as an NPS measurement13:21—An example of implementing Tomo in an organization16:36—The Cobra Effect18:55—How to start influencing culture in your company20:27—Where to connect with Lindsay__________________________________________________________________________________________Book: https://www.vegafactor.com/bookTotal Motivation Survey: https://app.vegafactor.com/take_the_survey

Lindsay McGregor is the co-founder of Vega Factor and co-author of bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation.  Previously, Lindsay led projects at McKinsey & Company, working with large fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, universities and school systems.  In this episode she shares the concept of Total Motivation, or ToMo—a simple theory based on the idea that why people work determines how well they work. She'll walk us through the six reasons why people work—three leading to higher performance and three leading to lower performance—and how to measure and manage them all. What is so powerful about her approach is that ultimately it enables you to take something that is often considered "soft" and "squishy"—culture—and turn it into something tangible you can actually measure, track, and manage. __________________________________________________________________________________________"Your reason for working will change what you do. And there's a spectrum of reasons why people do anything...it can range because you're working because you love the work itself. -Lindsay McGregor__________________________________________________________________________________________Episode Timeline:00:00—Introducing Rita McGrath + The topic of today's episode1:27—If you really know me, you know that...2:01—What would you say you're known for?4:04—What is your definition of strategy?5:36—What got you interested in strategy?7:00—The Total Motivation (Tomo) Model9:34—Indirect negative motives11:55—Thinking of Tomo as an NPS measurement13:21—An example of implementing Tomo in an organization16:36—The Cobra Effect18:55—How to start influencing culture in your company20:27—Where to connect with Lindsay__________________________________________________________________________________________Book: https://www.vegafactor.com/bookTotal Motivation Survey: https://app.vegafactor.com/take_the_survey

My special guest is Head of High Performance at Vega Factor, Rich Dec.Rich Dec  studied Operations Research and Industrial Engineering at Cornell University. He's heading the high performance practice at Vega Factor. He is a consultant, executive coach, and public speaker. Vega Factor model divides motivation into direct (intrinsic) and indirect (extrinsic) motives. High performance occurs at high TOMO (total motivation) when play, purpose and potential outweigh emotional pressure, economic pressure and inertia. Rich explained that companies often focus on tactical performance (how well you stick to your plan) but not much on the adaptive performance (how well you diverge from your plan) and the reasons behind. Actually, every high performer needs both.He also talked about examples of motivation factors, what is the role of structure and leader on motivation. Rich gave very practical tips on how to run effective meetings, enable trust in teams and even how to motivate your 4th grader to do his homework.I'd like to thank Rich for his contribution and help our audience to thrive at work and in life Rich's Linkedin Profile:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-dec-a775062/Vega Factor's web site:https://www.vegafactor.com/

It’s no secret that motivation is the precursor to high performance, so why do organizations still struggle to motivate their employees? According to Neel Doshi, Co-founder of Vega Factor and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Primed to Perform, it's because many have yet to unlock TOMO, or “total motivation” in their people.  On this episode, Neel joins the People Ops Podcast to talk about six fundamental motivators of human behavior, how to optimize the right ones to create TOMO, and why motivation is critical to adaptability in a post-pandemic future.   On this episode, you’ll hear: [01:29-04:01]  What inspired Neel to master the science that governs motivation and performance [04:19-08:54] How remote work is impacting motivation and leadership [10:45-13:30] The three direct motivators organizations should maximize [13:31-15:12] The three indirect motivators that organizations should minimize [17:01-19:09] Why people who are driven by indirect motivators are less adaptable, and why that’s a problem [23:33-26:07] How small business and startup leaders can create motivating environments [35:35-37:49] Why it’s crucial to get motivation right to thrive in a future of hyper-competition and change

On this episode, Raj Sharma talks with Neel Doshi, co-founder of Vega Factor and author of Primed to Perform, a book that “explains the counterintuitive science behind legendary cultures” based on research into how total motivation leads to higher performance and improved culture within organizations.

In today’s podcast episode, we have Lindsay McGregor, co-founder of the organization called Vega Factor and co-author of the bestselling book "Primed to Perform," to talk to us about how you can harmonize and embed motivation into your team.

While the world is fighting against the recent pandemic, many business owners—big or small—are also fighting to keep their businesses afloat. Company morale has reached an all-time low and leaders are having a hard time keeping everything and everyone together. However, finding the right way to inspire your team is crucial in boosting your company's performance. During these times where keeping a close watch over your team's productivity can prove to be challenging, working around it in an organized and scientific fashion may be the key to keeping your team motivated. Today, we have Lindsay McGregor, co-founder of the organization called Vega Factor and co-author of the bestselling book "Primed to Perform," to talk to us about how you can harmonize and embed motivation into your team. Tune in today and get some useful insights into the science and practice of motivation. What We Talked About in This Episode: The management differences between then and now and its challenges [02:39] How to set harmony within the team [05:00] How being proactive and planning ahead affects team motivation [08:00] Micromanagement affects motivation, visibility helps it [09:10] Motivation in a real-life situation—getting the right rhythm in your team [10:44] What is performance? Tactical performance and adaptive performance defined [13:18]  Tactical and adaptive performance: how are they different and how do they work together? [17:39] Keeping adaptive performance fresh [19:34] ToMo—the science and practice of motivation [21:00] Six reasons that affect total motivation [22:20] Improving organizational culture to get positive results [25:53] What three tools are required to change an organization's culture? [29:07] About our Guest: Lindsay McGregor is a co-founder of Vega Factor and co-author of the bestselling book “Primed to Perform,” which explains the psychology of the success of several multi-billion dollar companies, and how motivation boosts company performance. Formerly a consultant at McKinsey & Company, she received her BA from Princeton University and MBA from Harvard Business School. Get access to their resources at www.primedtoperform.com. Connect with John Murphy: Youtube Facebook LinkedIn Twitter If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

In today’s podcast episode, we have Lindsay McGregor, co-founder of the organization called Vega Factor and co-author of the bestselling book "Primed to Perform," to talk to us about how you can harmonize and embed motivation into your team.

Lindsay McGregor is the CEO and co-founder of Vega Factor.  Vega Factor is a company that helps organizations build high performing, adaptive cultures through, technology, learning programs, and process design.  Lindsay earned her Bachelor's degree from Princeton and attended Harvard Business School 2011-2013. She went on to work at McKinsey & Company, working with large Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, universities, and school systems. Lindsay and her husband Neel co-authored the New York Times bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to build the Highest Performing Cultures through the Science of Total Motivation. Connect with Lindsay: Twitter- https://twitter.com/mcgregorle Website: vegafactor.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaymcgregor/ In this episode, we discuss: Merging Emotional Intelligence and IQ How to Collaborate and Motivate How to Set Expectations for Experimenting Psychology of Recruiting and Hiring Flash Points What Writing a Book is Really Like Working as a Husband and Wife Team Tactical and Adaptive Performance

A rockstar manager does more than make sure timelines are met and goals accomplished. They know how to get an individual or team to do the best work of their lives while finding satisfaction or meaning in the process. As this week’s guest learned, it’s not about being nice, but instead about how to be authentically yourself while enabling people to accomplish more than they ever thought possible. Lindsay McGregor is the co-author of New York Times bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. She is also the CEO and co-founder of Vega Factor, a startup building technology to help organizations transform their cultures. Previously, Lindsay led projects at McKinsey & Company, working with nonprofits, universities, school systems and Fortune 500 companies.  Lindsay and I talk about being nice and being a leader, how to manage for both tactical performance and adaptive performance, how various motivations can help or hinder performance, and what you can do to increase TOMO - that stands for total motivation. Read the related blog article: Manage Adaptive Performance, Achieve Exceptional Outcomes Join the Modern Manager community (www.mamieks.com/join) to get a complimentary session with one of Linday’s colleagues to plan next steps based on your team survey results. Plus, one member will will a signed copy of Primed to Perform.   Become a member by Friday October 18, 2019 to be eligible for a free private coaching session with prior guest Lindsey Caplan of episode 70. If you work for a nonprofit or government agency, email me at mamie@mamieks.com for 20% off any membership level. Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.  KEY TAKEAWAYS: Every manager must manage two types of performance: (1) Tactical performance: codifying best practices and lessons learned, keeping everyone aligned on what to do and how to do it. (2) Adaptive performance: creating conditions for and facilitating learning, problem solving, and innovation. To enable adaptive performance, it helps to understand people’s motivations. Not all motivations will inspire people to achieve their best performance, especially when creativity, risk taking and growth are involved. The three positive motivations are: (1) Play: find joy in doing the work itself; (2) Purpose: the work leads to a meaningful, desired outcome; (3) Potential: the work positions you for something desired in the future. The three negative motivations are: (1) Emotional Pressure: do the work out of fear of disappointment or missing out, shame, or guilt; (2) Economic Pressure: the carrot and stick approach to do the work for the reward; (3) Inertia: Do the work because it’s what you’ve always done. When combined, you can rate your individual or team Total Motivation (TOMO). Do this through the Vega Factor surveys (below). A team’s TOMO will predict their overall performance. As a manager, you can adjust performance by changing someone’s TOMO via role design, routines and responsibilities, and professional development. You can also help connect a person’s role to the success of the team or organization by helping them feel valued for their unique contributions. Resources: Motivation Surveys: https://www.vegafactor.com/survey KEEP UP WITH LINDSAY: website:  www.vegafactor.com email: lindsay.mcgregor@vegafactor.com linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaymcgregor/   mamie@mamieks.com

A rockstar manager does more than make sure timelines are met and goals accomplished. They know how to get an individual or team to do the best work of their lives while finding satisfaction or meaning in the process. As this week’s guest learned, it’s not about being nice, but instead about how to be authentically yourself while enabling people to accomplish more than they ever thought possible. Lindsay McGregor is the co-author of New York Times bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. She is also the CEO and co-founder of Vega Factor, a startup building technology to help organizations transform their cultures. Previously, Lindsay led projects at McKinsey & Company, working with nonprofits, universities, school systems and Fortune 500 companies.  Lindsay and I talk about being nice and being a leader, how to manage for both tactical performance and adaptive performance, how various motivations can help or hinder performance, and what you can do to increase TOMO - that stands for total motivation. Read the related blog article: Manage Adaptive Performance, Achieve Exceptional Outcomes Join the Modern Manager community (www.mamieks.com/join) to get a complimentary session with one of Linday’s colleagues to plan next steps based on your team survey results. Plus, one member will will a signed copy of Primed to Perform.   Become a member by Friday October 18, 2019 to be eligible for a free private coaching session with prior guest Lindsey Caplan of episode 70. If you work for a nonprofit or government agency, email me at mamie@mamieks.com for 20% off any membership level. Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and mini-guides delivered to your inbox.  KEY TAKEAWAYS: Every manager must manage two types of performance: (1) Tactical performance: codifying best practices and lessons learned, keeping everyone aligned on what to do and how to do it. (2) Adaptive performance: creating conditions for and facilitating learning, problem solving, and innovation. To enable adaptive performance, it helps to understand people’s motivations. Not all motivations will inspire people to achieve their best performance, especially when creativity, risk taking and growth are involved. The three positive motivations are: (1) Play: find joy in doing the work itself; (2) Purpose: the work leads to a meaningful, desired outcome; (3) Potential: the work positions you for something desired in the future. The three negative motivations are: (1) Emotional Pressure: do the work out of fear of disappointment or missing out, shame, or guilt; (2) Economic Pressure: the carrot and stick approach to do the work for the reward; (3) Inertia: Do the work because it’s what you’ve

For years companies have used various motivation tools and strategies to try and get employees to meet and exceed their job expectations. We have used bonus plans, sales commission programs, competency frameworks as a means to solve the skills gap, frequent feedback conversations as the next answer for performance management, and org re-structures as the answer to all ills. Well, a few researchers and our next guest, Ric Dec, call BS. In fact, in their book Primed to Perform, the folks at Vega Factor say that you can measure an organization's total motivation (or ToMo) by looking at 6 factors and that score correlates to sales, client/customer success and overall performance. Yes, an HR metric that you can impact that translates to real business metrics!  Rich Dec heads the high-performance practice at Vega Factor and is a consultant and public speaker. Ever since he was a youth basketball player, he has been obsessed with figuring out how to create environments for people to thrive at work, at school, in sports, and in life. He has deep expertise and passion for partnering with organizations, teams, and executive leaders to enhance their levels of performance. He received his B.S. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and coaching certification from the Teleos Leadership Institute. Vega Factor is a company building technology to help organizations of all sizes and in any sector transform their culture and achieve the highest levels of performance.     

In her book, “Primed to Perform - How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation”, Lindsay McGregor and her co-author Need Doshi say: “While most people agree that culture is important, building great cultures still feels like magic that only a gifted few are born knowing how to practice.” In this episode of the CultureLab podcast, Lindsay talks about the findings of her research to demystify this “magic”. We explore what she learned from over a century of existing science on high performance as well as from her original research that involved iconic organizations such as Southwest Airlines, the Apple Store and Starbucks. Episode Highlights In this interview, Lindsay and I discuss: What brought her to culture work What tactical and adaptive performance are, how they differ and why it’s so important to balance both Total Motivation (ToMo) - what it is and why it can revolutionize the way you and your team work and what you can achieve New insights after publishing her book What’s next for Lindsay and her company, the Vega Factor      

Motivation. If you can understand what motivates your employees, you’ll have summarily solved your organizations engagement problem. Unfortunately, the journey of understanding each employee’s individual source of motivation is long and difficult. While everyone is motivated by something, sources of motivation are as unique as the people themselves. Here in lies the burden of leadership, managers must know what motivates their people. It is impossible for the company executives to both understand and make policies that are custom tailored to all the employees. So, the burden rests with managers to make sure they lead their people according to what moves them. When trying to better address the ever elusive “why” behind employee engagement issues, organizations must ensure they have created an environment that allows management to find real answers. All too often, organizations pass along as lip service the idea of management empowerment, which encourages them to run their teams they way they want to produce the best work. At the same time these same organizations enforce so much bureaucratic approval processes that nothing gets done without their bosses’ boss giving the sign off. If organizations consistently reinforce the idea that management doesn’t actually have the power to make real meaningful decisions, then in time managers will stop trying to effect positive change in their teams. They will stop trying to figure out what moves their employees to greatness because even if they could figure it out, they’re powerless to enable those aspirations. Without being able to motivate employees, organizations will be stuck in the void of low engagement. In a recent podcast, Lindsay McGregor, author of Primed to Perform and cofounder of Vega Factor, explained to us the science behind employee motivation. She described three instrumental characteristics to ensure that employees are fully motivated: play, purpose, and potential. She asserts that work needs to have elements that are enjoyable. People want to have an amount of fun while doing any task so why not help make work a little more fun? That fun shouldn’t just be random and directionless but be focused and with purpose. Everything that people do at work should have a purpose. Useless and boring tasks will demotivate people very quickly. Finally, the work should drive people to reach their potential. To reach out to Lindsey, visit her at her LinkedIn page. Everybody has drive. Everybody has passion. As humans, there are things that move us and inspire us to be better than we are. While the specifics behind each person’s motivation vary tremendously, it’s imperative to understand that each of us has something for which we are willing to go above and beyond. Only organizations that enable managers to affect change in their employees’ lives will find success motivating their people. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/forgeant/support

Today’s guest is Lindsay McGregor, McKinsey alum and co-author of the book Primed to Perform. She and her co-author and former McKinsey Partner Neel Doshi created the concept of Total Motivation – or ToMo for short. Lindsay and Neel founded a consulting firm, Vega Factor, that works with clients to help implement the ToMo principles they describe in their book. In this episode, Lindsay talks about her path to understanding what drives motivation, and the impact that it has had on her own life. Lindsay views each day as an opportunity to play, and helps organizations see how that same mindset can drive productivity and profitability.   Total Motivation is a measure of the degree to which individuals feel a sense of play, purpose and potential minus the degree to which they feel inertia and emotional and economic pressures.   Lindsay talks about how we all can use Total Motivation techniques to manage our personal productivity and aspirations, shifting our focus from numerical, outcome-based goals to performance-oriented ones, including learning new skills to help us get where we want to go. Lindsay sand her co-author Neel Doshi are on a mission to introduce ToMo to the world, and hope that by 2050 everybody on Earth works in a high ToMo organization.   To learn more about Total Motivation and Lindsay, visit the website: www.PrimedtoPerform.com. It has a short survey you can take to gauge your own ToMo, and a contact form that you can fill out to learn more about their company and their mission. To receive the weekly Unleashed email, that includes a transcript of each episode, book recommendations, and consulting tips, sign up at: https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed-podcast/

In this episode I sit down with the amazing Chris Allen and we begin a multi part series discussing the importance of TOMO in the work place based on the teachings of Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor from Vega Factor.. This will be an ongoing series with Chris so strap in and get your TOMO on!!

Lindsay McGregor is the co-founder and CEO at Vega Factor, a company that helps organizations build high-performing, adaptive cultures. She is also the co-author of a New York Times Best Seller, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. Lindsay received her B.A. from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard, and has worked with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and universities. She started her career working in strategy and found that one question often popped up.. "Do we have the culture to pull off the strategy?" Many companies would chose small, incremental improvements in their culture. She found that it was difficult to convince companies that big culture changes could really impact their performance and bottom line. Lindsay teamed up with Neel Doshi to research what is a great culture. They tested dozens of theories through research around the world, from 50 major companies and 20,000 people. They found that one truly predicted performance and that is total motivation. Total motivation, or ToMo, is the simple theory that why people work determines how well they work. There are six reasons why people work - three lead to higher performance and three lead to lower performance. They range from play, which is working because you love the work itself, to inertia, which is showing up today simply because you showed up yesterday. Many factors influence an employee's ToMo score like performance reviews, pay, and design.   Organizations can measure employees' individual ToMo scores and then use them to measure the organization's ToMo score as a whole. Not many companies have a high ToMo score... most are pretty low. A common misconception that can fuel this is that leaders have to be tough dictators to get high performance. However, happy employees and high performing organizations are not competing things. Investing in one leads to the other. Organizations should create a balance of play, purpose, and potential to combat low performance and increase their bottom line!   Things you will learn in this episode: Total motivation, or ToMo The six reasons why people work The two types of performance Cobra effect How annual performance reviews affect ToMo Blame bias Fluid vs. frozen organizations Links From The Episode:   Primed To Preform On Amazon    (Music by Ronald Jenkees)  

Need Doshi and Lindsay McGregor are partners in life, work, and writing. The are the founders of the consulting firm Vega Factor and authors of "Primed to Perform." In this interview, we dive deep into culture, systems, and motivation. We define TOMO and outline how the science of motivation can help build high performing cultures.

Segment 1: Joanne Domeniconi is Co-founder & Chief Discovery Officer of the product launch platform, The Grommet. The company's Citizen Commerce™ movement is reshaping how consumer products are discovered, shared, and bought. Segment 2: Richard Krevolin is the author of THE HOOK: How to Share Your Brand's Unique Story to Engage Customers, Boost Sales, and Achieve Heartfelt Success. Segment 3: Ray Barlow is Vice President of Accountant Solutions for Sage in North America. He previously worked in the Accountant & Advisor Group at Intuit. Ray has over 20 years of experience with the accountant market with roles including Vice President of Sales and Marketing at CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, and sales leadership roles at Thomson Reuters.Segment 4:Lindsay McGregor is the co-author of New York Times bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation, as well as the CEO and co-founder of Vega Factor, a startup building technology to help organizations transform their cultures.Segment 5: Dave King has been involved in high-tech startups since the early 1990s. In 2011 he founded a company called Exaptive, with a mission to create a software platform that could facilitate “ah-ha!” moments of innovation instead of leaving them to serendipity. In 2015 Exaptive was selected by Gartner as a “cool new vendor” in the life sciences. Sponsored by Sage and Nextiva. 

Lindsay McGregor is the co-author of New York Times bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation, as well as the CEO and co-founder of Vega Factor, a startup building technology to help organizations transform their cultures. Previously, Lindsay led projects at McKinsey & Company, working with large Fortune 500 ... Read More

Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor are the co-Founders of Vega Factor, a consulting firm that measures the strength of an organization's culture and quantifies the return on investment of building a great culture. Neel and Lindsay's new book is Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. They also happen to be married. To each-other. Learn more at PrimedToPerform.com

On this week's episode of the podcast, we take a look at how to build high-performing teams and cultures through the science of "total motivation." Among the topics we discuss include how to spot the worst motivation for getting your job done, why culture might not want to eat strategy for breakfast anymore, and how to help employees long for the sea in their own ways. Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor join us on this episode of the podcast to discuss all that and more. Neel and Lindsay are co-founders of Vega Factor, a company focused on unlocking human potential to build the most adaptive organizations. Prior to founding Vega, Neel was a Partner at McKinsey & Company, as well as CTO and a founding member of Genesant Technologies. Lindsay is a former consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she led strategic and operational projects for Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, media, nonprofit, and education sectors.  Show Notes Visit the Primed to Perform website to take a ToMo survey to see how your company fares Follow Neel Doshi on Twitter Follow Lindsay McGregor on Twitter Follow the official Vega Factor on Twitter

Our guest today, Kent Moors, is an internationally recognized expert in oil and gas policy/finance and risk assessment and Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Graduate Policy Center at Duquesne University, where he is also Scholar in Residence at the Institute for Energy and the Environment. We will discuss his latest book: The Vega Factor: Oil Volatility and the Next Global Crisis, which takes an in-depth look at the most important topics in the industry, including strategic risk, why traditional pricing mechanisms will no longer govern the market, and how the current government approaches have only worsened an already bad situation. The Vega Factor details the industry's players, including companies, traders, and governments; describes the priorities that will need to be revised, and the policies needed to achieve stability and explains how today's oil market is fundamentally different from the pre-crisis market.

Our guest today, Kent Moors, is an internationally recognized expert in oil and gas policy/finance and risk assessment and Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Graduate Policy Center at Duquesne University, where he is also Scholar in Residence at the Institute for Energy and the Environment. We will discuss his latest book: The Vega Factor: Oil Volatility and the Next Global Crisis, which takes an in-depth look at the most important topics in the industry, including strategic risk, why traditional pricing mechanisms will no longer govern the market, and how the current government approaches have only worsened an already bad situation. The Vega Factor details the industry's players, including companies, traders, and governments; describes the priorities that will need to be revised, and the policies needed to achieve stability and explains how today's oil market is fundamentally different from the pre-crisis market.