A Foolproof Tool for Motivating Your Team (and Yourself)

Ten years ago, I was managing a team of talented marketers at Yahoo! when something unexpected happened. In a one-on-one meeting, a woman on my team said to me, “I wanted you to know that if I ever do a really good job, just pay me more money. I don’t care about recognition or awards and I’m not motivated by praise. If I do well, just give me a bonus or pay me more.”

I stuttered through a response while feeling a bit taken aback by her comments. They seemed, well, a little crass.

But then, as I thought about it more overnight, I realized something: if this team member hadn’t told me what motivated her, I’d likely never know. What’s worse, I might try to reward her for good work in a way that would be motivating for me but not at all for her, leaving her frustrated and less likely to perform well in the future. It would be a lose-lose situation.

In fact, I thought, if I wanted her to be happy and productive in her job, the most helpful tools I could have in order to ensure her happiness were the details of what motivated her. This is true in other relationships, too. It is often referred to as the “platinum” rule: instead of using the “golden” rule of treating other people as you would like to be treated, treat them as they would like to be treated.

(As a side note, this practice is also useful outside of work. Here’s one real example from my own life: I personally love to be doted on when I’m sick, while my husband generally likes to be left alone. For the first few years of our relationship, he ignored me when I was sick, and I fussed over him to no end. Both of us were upset, until we realized we were making faulty assumptions about what the other person wanted based on our own preferences. Now that we’ve figured this out, things work much better!)

So, based on this illuminating conversation at the office, I decided that the best way to keep people happy at work was to start directly asking all the people on my teams what motivated them. To do so effectively, I created a tool: The Motivational Pie Chart. (Yes, it’s a pie chart, not real pie, so apologies to those who thought this would be an article about motivating your team with pie. Though, to be honest, that certainly works sometimes too….)

Using the tool is easy. You just follow these three steps:

Write down categories for everything that motivates you at work: recognition, money, learning new things, etc. You can write as many or as few things as you want and there are no pre-set categories. Anything that matters to you can go on your list.

Give each category a percentage weighting in order of its importance to you. The total weightings should add up to 100%, thus giving you a comprehensive pie chart of the things that motivate you.

Use a “red, yellow, green” color coding system to rate how satisfied you currently are with each of the categories on the list. If you are very satisfied with your compensation, give it a green. If you are completely dissatisfied with how challenged you feel in your job, give that a red, and so on.

If you are using the tool as a manager, the next step is to have an open conversation with each person on your team to talk about ways you can work together to “get them to green” on all of their categories. If you are using the tool for yourself, it can help you think about steps to take to make yourself happier at work, including thoughts about whether you are in the right role or at the right company. The reason the tool is foolproof is because it starts with asking each individual what matters and then helping each person find ways to do more of what matters.

Since that original conversation, I’ve used this tool with nearly a thousand people at four companies, and I’ve learned two important things:

1. People are really different.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but vastly different things motivate different people. Every time I do this exercise, I encounter something new. I’ve heard everything from people being passionate about hobbies (rock climbing, singing, etc.) that require them to have flexible work hours, to people saying they are motivated by external recognition and wanting to be on the cover of a magazine. I would never have known about these specific motivators for people if I hadn’t invited them to share. Good managers understand that the individuals on their teams are just that: individuals, with different interests and needs.

2. People are more similar than you’d think.

Despite all those differences, I’ve seen common patterns emerge that point at a few key motivational factors for most people.

They want “worthwhile work,” so they can know they’re doing something important and deserving of their time and energy.

They want to understand how their personal contribution is important to the goals of the organization.

They want to work with a team of people they admire and care about.

They want to learn new things and feel challenged by their jobs.

Are those common patterns surprising? They were for me at first. Perhaps partly because of that initial wake-up conversation I had at Yahoo!, I thought classic motivators like title and compensation would come up more, but for most people, they seem to make up a much smaller portion of the motivational pie.

The exception, of course, is that when people feel they are being paid significantly less than they are worth, they will often cite money as their top motivator. It’s analogous to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: once people feel their basic needs are being met financially, and that they are paid fairly for their capabilities, then they quickly move on to focusing on motivators like meaning, collegiality and learning. Note that the pie chart can and does change over time. That is to be expected – just as our careers change, so do our motivations.

This tool can be incredibly useful, both for productive conversations between managers and their direct reports and at the company level to extract patterns of what matters across large numbers of your staff. At Change.org, we’ve taken these patterns of common motivators and built them into our company culture. To connect people to worthwhile work, we host an all-team call once a week where everyone in the company joins to share and learn about the incredible impact our 40 million users are making every day around the world. To help with building connections with colleagues and learning new things, we are starting a program to encourage staff members to shadow someone from another team for the day to build stronger relationships while picking up new skills. And we’re taking learning a step further, giving each employee access to free language training. (With staff in 18 countries, it’s also an essential team-building initiative!)

How could your company use the motivational pie chart to improve how it serves its employees? How could you use it personally or as a manager? Share your plan in the comments – and if you do give the chart a shot, let me know afterward what motivates you and your teams!

Source: Jennifer Dulski @jdulski

Jennifer Dulski is president and COO of Change.org, the world’s largest platform for social change. With 40 million users around the world, Change.org empowers people everywhere to create the change they want to see.

Hard Rock Cafe ® Tupelo Style Chicken

Hard Rock Cafe

The world’s most famous theme restaurant pays tribute to the birthplace of Elvis Presley with this chicken finger appetizer dish, and two tasty dipping sauces. It’s probably best they chose to name the dish after a city, rather than after the King himself. “Elvis Style Chicken” sounds like a concoction that should include bananas, peanut butter and bacon grease.

4 to 6 cups vegetable oil

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons honey
pinch paprika

Apricot Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons Grey Poupon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apricot preserves
2 tablespoons honey

1 cup corn flake crumbs
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
dash garlic
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 pound chicken breast fillets

How to make

  1. Preheat oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees.
  2. Make the honey mustard dipping sauce by combining the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Make the apricot dipping sauce by combing those ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate this sauce as well, until your chicken is ready.
  3. Prepare the breading by combining the corn flake crumbs, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, paprika, onion powder, and garlic in a medium bowl.
  4. Beat the egg in a medium bowl, add the 1 cup of milk and stir.
  5. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.
  6. Slice each chicken breast lengthwise into strips approximately 1/2-inch wide.
  7. When the oil is hot, bread your chicken by first coating each strip with flour. Dip the chicken into the egg/milk mixture and then back into the flour. Dip each chicken strip back in the egg/milk mixture and then in the corn flake crumb mixture. Be sure to coat each chicken piece thoroughly with the corn flake crumbs.
  8. Fry 6 to 8 coated chicken strips at a time in the oil for 4 to 5 minutes or until the chicken is golden brown. Drain and serve chicken with the dipping sauces on the side.

Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer.

Source: Assorted Secret Recipe

Green Tips for the House

  1. Weatherproof your doors and windows to prevent drought and heat loss.
  2. Consider insulating your walls and attic. Use only eco-friendly insulation materials like cork, sheeps wool or recycled
  3. newspaper.
  4. Install double-glazed windows if your house is not built in an overly wet place.
  5. Install solar panels and/or wind generator on the roof. In some regions (depends on solar activity and wind speed) a household can produce enough energy to be independent from the energy supplier. Also consider solar water heaters on the roof. It usually pays back within 5 years and lets you save several hundred pounds per year on heating bills.
  6. Check if feed-in tariffs are available in your country. There are 60 countries around the world that have introduced feed-in tariffs. It means that you install solar panels on your roof and get paid for the green energy the house generates. Check with your local council for more information.
  7. Raise your air-con thermostat in the summer by just one degree and save 2% on your electricity bill
  8. Lower your heating temperature by one degree in the winter and save 5% on your heating bill.
  9. Don’t use a cooker or a grill to heat the room. It is inefficient and dangerous.
  10. Don’t set your boiler temperature too high. 60 degrees Celsium is sufficient.
  11. Learn how to operate your thermostat or if it’s not too flexible, change to a newer model.
  12. Install the boiler as centrally as possible in your house so that you avoid long underfloor pipes.
  13. The shorter the pipes the quicker the hot water will reach its destination.
  14. Insulate the hot water pipes properly.
  15. During the night lower the temperature in your bedroom by 2 degrees. It is much healthier for your lungs to sleep in a cool (not too cold, though) place. 16 – 17 degrees Celsius is the best for good night sleep.
  16. If shelled corn is readily available in your region, switch to a corn stove. It is a great way of greener and cheaper heating.
  17. If the supply of corn is limited, buy a multifuel stove. You will be able to use shelled corn, wood pellets and self-made pellets in a multifuel stove.
  18. Wait until you have a full load of laundry before operating a washing machine. You will stop wasting water and electricity.
  19. Wait until you have a full load of dishes before operating a dishwasher.
  20. Wash your laundry at lower temperatures. Using the modern washing powders or liquids you can get good result by keeping the temperature to 30 or 40 degrees.
  21. Use only bio-degradable washing powers and liquids.
  22. Try to use concentrated washing liquids. Those involve less packaging and are better for the environment.
  23. If your laundry is not very dirty, use an economy programme on your washing machine.
  24. Never use a tumble dryer. It consumes too much energy and produces poor results. It can even damage certain types of fabric or make them hard to iron. Dry your clothes on a line or on the radiators.
  25. Dry your clothes outside when weather permits. It will help save energy on dehumidifiers.
  26. Don’t overdo with your laundry. If you keep good personal hygiene you don’t really need to change the bed linen and towels more often than once a fortnight.
  27. Buy only appliances with an A+ energy rating. You don’t need to change your washing machine model every year just to please the advertisers. Replace your appliances only when necessary and replace them with A+ machines.
  28. Vacuum the back of your fridge and the intake of your dehumidifier frequently. Thus you’ll make those appliances work more efficiently.
  29. Turn off the light when you leave a room.
  30. Introduce movement sensors on the staircases if necessary. They are dangerous when dark. On the other hand many people have developed a habit of leaving staircase lighting on permanently, which is very bad for the environment.
  31. Collect rainwater in barrels and use to water the garden, flush toilets, wash cars.
  32. Better yet install a professional grey water recycling system and make sure it can also take rainwater in.
  33. Use a broom and a shovel to clean your patio and driveway. In this way you actually remove the dirt instead of just rinsing it into the lawn like you do when you use a hose.
  34. Avoid using lifts and elevators and reduce your carbon footprint. Lifts are consuming a lot of electrical energy because they are run by powerful electrical engines. It is not necessary to use an elevator to travel a couple of storeys. Walking up and down the stairs is healthy and helps to train muscles and keep you fit.
  35. Ask your energy supplier to perform a free home energy audit. Most likely he will start laughing but there’s nothing wrong with trying.
  36. Consider reading Electronic books to save trees. Sustainable energy directly from the source is the clean choice for a green future. Check Solar Powered Portable Readers. Carbon neutral, tree free reading is here. By combining portable readers with solar chargers, you can learn about forests-without contributing to deforestation.
  37. Unsolicited junk mail is bad. However, you can make it a little bit better by opening it and cutting the letters and envelopes in neat pieces and using them for making notes.
  38. Don’t use post-its and other ready-made note-paper bits. Reuse paper for notes and use the bluetac or plasticine if you really need to stick the notes on surfaces. Use a fridge magnet to attach notes to metal surfaces.
  39. If building a new house or substantially rebuilding the old one, use green methods and eco-friendly materials. Although some of them might be more expensive than similar conventional materials, you’ll make a great deal of difference for your health.
  40. Clean or replace the air filter on the air con.
  41. Use recycled glass tiles, VOC-free paints and reused wood when doing up your interior.
  42. If you have some extra time, volunteer to make your neighbourhood cleaner. See if you can get your neighbours to join you for a local clean-up.

Source: Green Home Design

Bahamas Crab ‘n Rice

This dish is usually served at midday or in the evening. This is a variation on the popular peas ‘n rice, and uses crabs, which are very common in the Bahamas. This version uses the more economical imitation ‘‘crab legs’’ (available in most supermarkets).

3 TBS oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, chopped
5 TBS tomato paste
salt, pepper to taste
1⁄2 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
4 cups water
2 cups rice
2 cups canned pigeon peas
24 pieces preformed ‘‘crab legs’’ (or 4 whole fresh crabs)

(If using fresh crab, separate bodies from shell, scoop out coral from the shell into a bowl. Discard shells. Quarter the bodies and crack the legs. Set aside.)

  • In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; fry the onion and sweet pepper until soft.
  • Stir in tomato paste, crab coral (if using fresh crab), salt, pepper, thyme, and paprika.
  • Add water, cover, and bring to a boil.
  • Add rice, peas, and crab legs (and bodies, if using). Bring to a boil.
  • Check seasoning.
  • Reduce heat to simmer until water has evaporated, for about 20–25 minutes.

Source: The World Cookbook

Super Detox Juice

“An apple a day keeps doctor away”. This is really true.
Mixing apple, lemon and Chinese cabbage together in juicing will help in easing
constipation and accelerate body detoxing process.

Serves 1
Apple 1 piece, whole unpeeled, preferable green apple
Chinese Cabbage 100 grams, remove the stem and maintain the leaves
Lemon ½ piece, cut into half, seeded, with skin on

Tips:
For better taste, you can add in raw honey and some dash of fine sea salt into the drink

Source: www.healthyeatingjuicing.com

14 Toyota Way Principles

Toyota

Here is the briefly summary of the Toyota Way Principles:

  1. Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial gains. Have a philosophical sense of purpose and mission that supersedes any short-term decision-making. Work, grow, and align the whole organization toward a common purpose that is bigger than making money.
  2. The Right Process will produce the Right Results. Don’t hide problems within the organization, but create continuous process flow to bring them to the surface.
  3. Avoid overproduction by following the principle of just-in-time — namely, customers should get what they want, when they want it, and in the amount they want.
  4. Eliminate waste of human and material resources. Also, strive to cut back to zero the amount of time that any work project is sitting idle or waiting for someone to work on it.
  5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.
  6. Standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment. Capture the accumulated learning about a process by institutionalising today’s best practices and allows employees to improve the standard through creative self-expression.
  7. Use visual and manual control so that no problems are hidden.
  8. Use technology to support people, not to replace people. Reject or modify technologies that conflict with your work culture. Nevertheless, encourage your people to consider new technologies when looking into new approaches to work.
  9. Develop such leaders in your organization who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others. Do not view the leader’s job as simply accomplishing tasks. Leaders must be role models of the company’s philosophy and way of doing business.
  10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy. Make an ongoing effort to teach individuals to work together as teams toward common goals.
  11. Have respect for your business partners and suppliers and treat them as an extension of your business.
  12. Continuously solving root problems improves organizational learning. Even high-level managers should go and see things for themselves, so that they will have more than a superficial understanding of the situation.
  13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; but implement decisions rapidly.
  14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (Hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen). Protect the organization’s knowledge and cultural base by developing stable personnel, careful promotion, and well thought-out succession systems.

Source: Toyota Way

Vegetarian Foods, Powerful Tools for Health

THE WHYS AND HOWS

A vegetarian menu is a powerful and pleasurable way to achieve good health. The vegetarian eating pattern is based on a wide variety of foods that are satisfying, delicious, and healthful. Vegetarians avoid meat, fish, and poultry. Those who include dairy products and eggs in their diets are called lacto-ovo vegetarians. Vegans (pure vegetarians) eat no meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products. While there is a considerable advantage to a lacto-ovo vegetarian pattern, vegan diets are the healthiest of all, reducing risk of a broad range of health concerns.

A HEALTHY HEART

Vegetarians have much lower cholesterol levels than meat-eaters, and heart disease is less common in vegetarians. The reasons are not hard to find. Vegetarian meals are typically low in saturated fat and usually contain little or no cholesterol. Since cholesterol is found only in animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs, vegans consume a cholesterol-free diet. The type of protein in a vegetarian diet may be another important advantage. Many studies show that replacing animal protein with plant protein lowers blood cholesterol levels—even if the amount and type of fat in the diet stays the same. Those studies show that a low-fat, vegetarian diet has a clear advantage over other diets.

LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE

An impressive number of studies, dating back to the early 1920s, show that vegetarians have lower blood pressure than non-vegetarians. In fact, some studies have shown that adding meat to a vegetarian diet raises blood pressure levels rapidly and significantly. The effects of a vegetarian diet occur in addition to the benefits of reducing the sodium content of the diet. When patients with high blood pressure begin a vegetarian diet, many are able to eliminate the need for medication.

CONTROLLING DIABETES

The latest studies on diabetes show that a vegetarian diet high in complex carbohydrates and fiber (which are found only in plant foods) and low in fat is the best dietary prescription for controlling diabetes. A diet based on vegetables, legumes, fruits, and whole grains, which is also low in fat and sugar, can lower blood sugar levels and often reduce or even eliminate the need for medication. Since individuals with diabetes are at high risk for heart disease, avoiding fat and cholesterol is important, and a vegetarian diet is the best way to do that.

CANCER PREVENTION

A vegetarian diet helps prevent cancer. Studies of vegetarians show that death rates from cancer are only about one-half to three-quarters of those of the general population. Breast cancer rates are dramatically lower in countries where diets are typically plant-based. When people from those countries adopt a Western, meat-based diet, their rates of breast cancer soar. Vegetarians also have significantly lower rates of colon cancer than meat-eaters. Colon cancer is more closely associated with meat consumption than any other dietary factor.

Why do vegetarian diets help protect against cancer? First, they are lower in fat and higher in fiber than meat-based diets. But other factors are important, too. Plants contain other cancer-fighting substances called phytochemicals. For example, vegetarians usually consume more of the plant pigments beta-carotene and lycopene. This might help to explain why they have less lung and prostate cancer.
Also, some studies have suggested that diets that avoid dairy products may reduce the risk of prostate and ovarian cancer. Some of the anti-cancer aspects of a vegetarian diet cannot yet be explained. For example, researchers are not quite sure why vegetarians have more of certain white blood cells, called “natural killer cells,” which are able to seek out and destroy cancer cells.

THE CALCIUM CONNECTION

Vegetarians are less likely to form either kidney stones or gallstones. In addition, vegetarians may also be at lower risk for
osteoporosis because they eat little or no animal protein. A high intake of animal protein encourages the loss of calcium from the bones. Replacing animal products with plant foods reduces the amount of calcium lost. This may help to explain why people who live in countries where the diet is typically plant-based have little osteoporosis, even when calcium intake is lower than that in dairy-consuming countries.

PLANNING VEGETARIAN DIETS

It’s easy to plan vegetarian diets that meet all your nutrient needs. Grains, beans, and vegetables are rich in protein and iron. Green leafy vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu, and nuts are excellent sources of calcium, as are enriched soymilk and fortified juices.
Vitamin D is normally made in the body when sun shines on the skin. People who are dark-skinned or live at northern latitudes have some difficulty producing vitamin D year-round. Vitamin D can easily be obtained from fortified foods.

Some sources are commercial breakfast cereals, soymilk, other supplemental products, and multivitamins. Regular intake of vitamin B12 is important. Good sources include all common multiple vitamins (including vegetarian vitamins), fortified cereals, some brands of nutritional yeast, and fortified soymilk. It is especially important for pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers to get enough vitamin B12. When reading food labels, look for the word cyanocobalamin in the ingredient list. This is the form of vitamin B12 that is best absorbed.

Source: Vegetarian Starter Kit