Jiminy Cricket the Motivational Speaker

If you can think back to the 50 year old Disney classic Pinocchio, you can find a true motivator. Chosen by the Blue Fairy, he came in a small package, carried a mean tune, looked great in a top hat and spats and succeeded in his role by keeping Pinocchio on the right path. Jiminy to Pinocchio was the “Lord High Keeper of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong, Counselor in Moments of Temptation, and Guide along the Straight and Narrow Path.” Jiminy played a significant role in Pinocchio life constantly motivating him to follow the correct path. Without Jiminy, Pinocchio would have lost the external motivation to continue to do what’s right. This is an example of a person that lacks intrinsic motivation and therefore the moment that the extrinsic motivation is taken away, they have nothing to fall back on. How can a motivating environment be created where the fuel is an internal source? A environment where the manager is not spending all of his time trying to keep his subordinates motivated. Or An environment where high level management isn’t spending an exuberant amount of money hiring motivational speakers to motivate everybody for a few hours until it wears off that night. Motivation, as defind in “The Essentials of Organizational Behavior” is the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. By obtaining a concrete knowledge of what motivation consists of, identifying reasons people are motivated, this funnels both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators into creating a motivating environment with motivated subordinates.