Do you wake to the alarm on a workday morning only to put it on snooze? And when the snooze alarm rings do you reset it one more time? Finally, when it rings a third time do you leap out of bed in a panic with images of angry colleagues waiting for you to arrive at an early meeting?
Or do you awake with anticipation for what lies ahead during the day? Do you positively leap out of bed with enthusiasm because you see all the interesting things waiting to be done?
The first description is an example of an “away from” pattern, while the second is an example of a “toward” pattern. Patterns such as these control the way we make decisions and carry out our tasks. While we may use both patterns at times, we tend to follow one pattern most of the time.
Neither pattern is good or bad. As many highly successful people have been driven by a need to move away from pain (e.g. poverty) as those driven by a need to move towards pleasure (e.g. financial freedom).
If you have an “away from” pattern, you may be failing to motivate yourself if you are setting challenging goals to work towards. You may be more motivated by the fear of losing something important to you such as a promotion.
Knowing which pattern you favour enables you to decide what to focus on to boost your drive. Similarly, if you are a manager, it is essential to know whether your team members have “toward” or “away from” patterns so that you can use the most effective motivational levers.
Here’s another interesting question. Do you get easily upset whenever your routine changes? Or do you find the same kind of work every day boring? The answers will point to another pattern called “sameness/difference”. If you are more of a “sameness” person, you will tend to be most comfortable working in a highly stable and unchanging environment. On the other hand, if you are a “difference” person you will like to reinvent and reorganise your working environment repeatedly.
This understanding can help you decide the best role for you at your organisation. It can also point to your natural talent: for identifying similarities between items, or for identifying where they differ. Of course, if you are a manager you will want to know which pattern each member of your team uses when planning any kind of change initiative. Who you pick to drive the changes and how you organise tasks for people will be critical.
Do you insist on doing things the “right” way? As a “procedures” person, you will be great for getting things done. You will not be distracted by thinking about alternatives. On the other hand, do you like to have many choices about how to accomplish something? As an “options” person, you will be happy to explore alternative ways of doing things, and will be motivated by variety, and the chance to do something differently.
From this description it is easy to see how you can develop stress if you are working according to the opposite of your natural pattern. It also points to a potential source of conflict between colleagues, and between managers and their team. Managers, of course, need to take this pattern into account when allocating responsibilities to their people.
Finally, do you only feel good when your boss gives you praise? If so, you’re “externally referenced” and receiving lots of feedback is important to you to tell you how you are doing. Or are you happy knowing you’ve done a good job no matter what anyone else says? In this case you’re “internally referenced” and you don’t need confirmation of your capabilities from outside.
This pattern may help you to understand why you do or do not get along well with your boss, as he may seem disinterested if you expect more feedback, or too micromanaging if you expect less feedback. For managers, it is good to remember that feedback works differently for different people. Learn your team members’ patterns and adjust your behaviour accordingly.
Self-awareness can enable you to arrange your work life in such a way as to reduce your stress and increase your enthusiasm. Awareness of others can help you to avoid the conflicts that arise from two different patterns working together, and provide you with a deeper understanding of your boss and your colleagues. This can only lead to a happier workplace – wouldn’t that be nice!
