Sunday, January 24, 2010

A forever home for motivation

I consider this to be one of the most powerful anecdotes that I have ever heard that shows how important motivation truly is:

A foster child loads his hockey equipment and himself into the minivan with his foster mom. 6:00 am hockey practices come early.

Just as the foster-mom puts the car into drive to pull out of the drive way, the foster-child turns and says, "I think this will be my forever home." (In Foster-child lingo, a forever home would be the foster home they would never leave - their foster-parents would become their 'forever' parents)

The mom, being surprised by such a huge statement, turns and asks, "why do you say that?"

"Because you are the first foster-mom to take me to my hockey practices without bringing your mileage book."

Do you think it mattered to the kid why his foster-mom was taking him to the rink?

2 comments:

  1. Hi Joe:
    This is such a poignant anecdote.

    In addition to Pink, and of course Alfie Kohn, I think of the Eagle Hill video with Rick Lavoie when he offers financial incentives for a participant to understand something they just could not see.

    It's not about the reward, the money, the gold star, the grade. It's about the relationship and the caring to take the kid to hockey. And in school - the joy of learning.

    That said - those who do this work - should be adequately paid.

    - Josie

    http://www.pdscompasspoint.com/

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  2. I like how Pink puts it: pay people fairly and adequately in their base salary, and then do everything in our power to keep money out of thier faces.

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