Discovering What Drives Your Best Work with Todd Henry
Todd Henry is the author of The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice, Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day, Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice, and — most recently — The Motivation Code: Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work.
The Motivation Code assessment helps you learn about your top motivational themes. Understanding what drives is critical to making better decisions about your career path and performing better at your current job.
Listen to the episode to hear Todd’s insights and get a preview into the book:
Find out your motivational themes
The Motivation Code assessment helps you learn about what truly drives you at work and how you can ensure your career is more fulfilling.
You can take the full assessment at motivationcode.com. There’s also a free version of the assessment that gives you your top three themes at motivationcode.com/free.
A reflection on my own motivations
I took the Motivation Code assessment at the end of October and then read the book. I learned both about myself and what drives me, as well as what likely drives my colleagues. Sometimes when reading about the book, I would think “I know exactly who fits this theme!”
My top three were:
- Experience the Ideal
- Develop
- Achieve Potential
By far, my highest score was “Experience the Ideal.” This theme is all about the process of transforming intangible, abstract concepts into a concrete expression. The theme truly fits my motivations and how the communications field has been a great fit for me. I thrive when given the challenge of making abstract, ambiguous information flow into a strategic, effective product.
“Develop” and “Achieve Potential” were close behind.
“Develop” is described as satisfaction coming from “seeing how the finished product or result reflects all the steps, techniques, and procedures that brought it to its final form.” This can be with a project or even the development of talent — which is strongly reflected in my mentorship of students and your professionals. One of my favorite things is working with a talented young professional and helping them grow their skills. (Shout out to my former interns!)
I’ve always been a high-achiever, and I wasn’t surprised to see “Achieve Potential” at the top of my results. However, this theme goes so much deeper than personal achievement. In the description of the theme, this motivation code says, “Hidden, undeveloped, or unnoticed resources or possibilities are what interest you.” I always love investigating possibilities, whether I’m finding new stories to tell or trying out new tools.
The Motivation Code nailed my top themes and the report provided valuable insights I plan to apply, including an understanding of the “shadow side” of my top motivators.
Why low scores aren’t weaknesses or failures
It was fascinating to look at the themes that ranked at the bottom of my Motivation Code. If you haven’t listened to the episode yet, these are NOT weaknesses.
My initial response at my bottom two — “Collaborate” and “Serve” — was to feel inadequate. Does this make me a horrible coworker? Am I selfish?
In talking to Todd and reading the book, I know that is not the case. The scores on the 27 themes measure what motivates me, not who I am or where I’m deficient.
For example, I scored very low on “Collaborate.” I’ve never been motivated by group projects (as my former professors can attest to), but I don’t mind collaborating on projects. It’s just not as exciting to me as the opportunity to develop new projects and processes or discover new ways to transform ideas or help. Looking back, I’ve previously found ways to incorporate my motivational themes in collaborative projects by facilitating brainstorming sessions or offering to take the lead on organizing ideas and plans.
Bravely sharing my personal results
It’s a bit scary to lay it all out there for everyone to see, but I wanted to share a screenshot of my personal Motivation Code results below.
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