Moving Motivators
Card game for identifying individual and team-wide motivators.
PURPOSE
Moving Motivators are used to make the individual motivation drivers of team members visible and to reflect on how changes affect motivation. They help leaders and teams understand what truly drives individuals and how planned changes might influence motivation. This way, conditions can be created that foster intrinsic motivation rather than undermine it.
HOW TO USE
Each person arranges the ten motivation cards by personal importance from left (most important) to right. In the second step, a specific change situation is considered: for each motivator, the card is moved up (positive effect), down (negative effect), or kept at the same level (neutral). In the team, results can be shared and discussed to foster mutual understanding.
WHAT IT IS
Moving Motivators is a card game from Jurgen Appelo's Management 3.0 approach, based on the motivation theories of Daniel Pink, Steven Reiss, and Edward Deci. It includes ten motivation cards: Curiosity, Honor, Acceptance, Mastery, Power, Freedom, Relatedness, Order, Goal, and Status. The tool is used both for individual reflection and for team workshops on motivation analysis.
EXAMPLE
Example: As a team lead, you conduct a one-on-one with an employee who seems dissatisfied and lay the ten Moving Motivators cards on the table. She sorts them by importance and then shifts some to show how a planned reorganization affects her motivation. You recognize that her needs for freedom and mastery are primarily threatened.