Dr. W. Edwards Deming famously said that managers can't hope to motivate employees, as they can only hope to not demotivate them. I wrote about this in my post “If management stopped demotivating their employees…” Deming had a chart that showed how an employee's intrinsic motivation would only go down over time, due to poor management and systemic dysfunctions.
This screen grab from a Baltimore Orioles game broadcast shows infielder Robert Andino and the apparent effect of playing for a really bad baseball team. As the Washington Post put it, “Robert Andino seems sad to be playing for the Orioles.”
Are our organizations and leadership styles doing this to nurses, pharmacists, and other hospital staff members over time?
Quoting Deming's chart:
One is born with intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, dignity, cooperation, curiosity, joy in learning. These attributes are high at the beginning of life, but are gradually crushed by the forces of destruction.”
Or the Baltimore Orioles.
hat tip: The Last Angry Fan
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As mentioned on Twitter, I don’t know for a fact that Andino is disgruntled. This post was somewhat tongue in cheek about that, given the reaction in the media that he must be unhappy on a bad team and the photos certainly could indicate that. Or, it just indicates his mood at a point in time when those three pictures were taken.
I bet he’s smiling now. In first place in late May for the first time in probably 15 years. As a lifelong Oriole fan, Cal Ripken, Jr. was my hero as a kid, I can probably say that your theory about Andino and Deming is accurate. As a fan, the beginning of each season brings joy, but not the same joy that fans of the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, or Rangers are feeling when the season starts. They talk about in April while we talk about how long it will be before we quit paying attention and move on the NBA playoffs or the NFL preseason.
I bet Andino is smiling ear to ear right now as the team is doing well and it looks like there is some sustainability there. Thank you for the comparison between baseball and business as we often forget how much of a business professional sports can be and in a multitude of ways and perspectives.