What’s the best way to motivate someone?  Is it kindness? Bribery?  (The kind with candy, not the kind that lands you in jail for 10-20 years.)  Or maybe it’s yelling.

The real answer is: “it depends on what you mean by ‘best.’”

Ok.  So maybe that was a trick question.  But it’s still a trick question.  You see there are almost as many theories of motivation as there are people.  And not all the theories work as well as they should.  (For instance, Maslow predicted that people are motivated by food first, and only after their bellies are full, are they motivated by things like self-esteem and need for achievement.  And as logical as this sounds, it’s also been unsupported by research.  D’oh!)

So how do we motivate someone?  Does yelling really work?  And is it really the best approach?  Well read on in my latest Upmarket column to find out.  (Does that lede make you feel motivated to click?)

Anger is a problem we all must face.  From the boss who thinks the only way to get work done is by yelling. Or the customer who is upset about a product, and thinks that to be heard she must yell.  Or from the exhausted parent who has run out of ideas to motivate their stubborn child.  In all of these cases, anger has a profound impact on how we feel about ourselves, how we interact with one another, as well as how we feel at the end of the day.

Usually we’re told that anger is a bad thing.  But could it be useful?  (read more…)

image provided by flickr user spullara

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