Understanding Employees Secret Motivations with Freud's Unconscious and Markov's Hidden Method

Sigmund Freud-Medical Doctor

Employee motivation is something managers find difficult to tap and grow. Those organizations that can keep their highest potential workers motivated and engaged will often find the results superseding their expectations. Each employee comes with certain wants needs and desires that when in alignment with the workplace create higher levels of performance and satisfaction. The discoveries of Sigmund Freud's unconscious motivations and Andrey Markov's mathematical chains help us understand and evaluate latent employee processes.

Sigmund Freud was a medical doctor that believed in three innate structures of the mind that include the conscious, pre-conscious and the unconscious. The conscious is what we are aware of, the pre-conscious can be remembered quickly with priming, and the un-concious is buried.

The un-conscious contains our employees needs, wants, and desires. What we see on the surface is not really the true personality as that which we get a hint of through their unconscious. Frued states, "We are probably far too much inclined to over estimate the conscious character even of intellect and artistic productions"(Freud,1920).

 Each employee has latent or hidden needs  that they may or may not be presently aware of. As they make decisions, choices, and put forward effort their unconcscious needs become apparent to those who are perceptive. Each action is a glimpse to an internal motivations the person uses to make decisions.

Each decision and action can lead to greater insight of the "true" character and ability of the person. As the person navigates his or her environment they leave a trail of decisions, actions, and comments. Some are stand alone but others create a pattern of behavior.

The hidden Markov method can be used to detect and understand these processes better. Hidden means that the initial factor may not be known but the outcome is. In other words, the latent mental process is not known but the actual actions in our environment can be tracked leading to performance predictions.

Andrey Markov-Mathemetician

The hidden Markov mode has been used successfully in smaller scale projects like education and learning. Models can be used to uncover hidden Markov processes using activity logs and data (Biswas, 2010). Over time these create a pattern and reflect deeper metacognitive processes that can reflect future performance and behavior.

The process doesn't need to be as formal as a Markov Method. Companies often engage in psuedo research through observations that take the form of probationary periods, performance appraisals, surveys and employment histories. Each leads to greater insight into which processes the employee is using to make decisions and their likelihood of such performance in the future.

Knowing what motivates your employees is beneficial for designing tasks around their abilities, goals, and knowledge. Creating an alignment between the employee and their environment leads to meaningfulness that takes the form of skill variety, task identity, and task significance (Hackman & Oldham, 1980).

It would be difficult to follow and study individual employees on this level unless they have high value or worth to the organization. However, all managers should have some knowledge of how and their employees think and what they believe in order to motivate them. The impetus of engaging, knowing and understanding people is one of the biggest parts of proper management.  Perception and active listening can get you the basic idea without the need for scientific evaluation.

Biswas, et. al. (2010). Measuring self-regulation learning skills through social interactions in a teachable agent environment. Research & Practice in Technology Enhance Learning, 5 (2).

Frued, S. (1920) Dream Psychology Psychoanalysis for Beginners. NY: The James A McCaan Company.

Hackman, J. & Oldham, G. (1980). Work Design. NJ. Pearson Education.

IABE-2016 Orlando: Winter Conference, March 20-22, 2016

IABE-2016 Orlando: Winter Conference, March 20-22, 2016:

·         Submission Deadline: January 11, 2016

·         Please visit our website www.iabe.org for more information on our refereed journals and the conference.

·         Submit your paper online at www.iabe.org or email it to: Review@iabe.org                                                          

IABE-2016 Florence & Pisa (Italy): Summer Conference, June 16-18, 2016:

• Submission Deadline: April 18, 2016
• Please visit our website www.iabe.eu for more information on our refereed journals and the conference.
• Submit your paper online at www.iabe.eu or email it to: Review@iabe.org                                                                   

Our Refereed Publications:

California Business Review (CBR)
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International Journal of Business Research (IJBR)
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Journal of Academy of Business and Economics (JABE)
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International journal of Finance and Economics (JIFE)
Journal of International Finance Studies (JIFS)
Journal of International Management Studies (JIMS)
Review of Business Research (RBR)

We invite you to visit our website www.iabe.org for more information.

Pushing San Diego's Innovative Ability

How do we push San Diego's ability to be a sustainable innovative city? I had the pleasure of reading Rob Litchmen's Opinion piece in the San Diego Tribute entitled, "Innovation group could build a sustainable San Diego" I like the idea of advocating for innovation in San Diego and pushing for sustainable practices.

I have often felt that sustainable practices are investments in our future. The initial costs of some practices can sometimes be prohibitive but can save money over the long term. Other initiatives could turn out to be cheaper and only need to be analyzed and applied.

All societies must push upward in their development. A committee could help in discovering new ideas, research best practices, and then solicit government stakeholders to incorporate new developments. They could work on forming a long-term strategic plan and marrying that plan with city governments.

The group could be part of government as in a formal committee or it could be industry led through volunteerism and corporate sponsorship. Businesses, professors, and specialists would be interested in joining. It would be a way of contributing to the city's development in a significant way.

The biggest advantage such a committee could have is changing people's mind from short-term thinking to long-term thinking. A group could push for sustainable practices that encourages San Diego to take a sustainable leadership position that is increasingly important in an era of climate change.

It could also review the master plans and ideas to further develop neighborhoods for local use. The automobile removed local grocery stores and a sense of community while bikes and public transportation are making them feasible again. Working through this change is important to ensure policies are sound.

I can't say whether such a group would or would not work. I can only say that it depends on its form, interest, political clout, and the public perception. Its power would be more in the way we think and its ability to research and recommend improvements. Rob Litchmen's idea of an innovation committee is important as one perspective on how to improve the local economy and standard of living.

Litchmen (October 7th, 2015). Innovation group could build a sustainable San Diego. The San Diego Union-Tribune. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/oct/07/innovation-sustainable/

Tapping Your Student's Knowledge in Business Curriculum

 Online education was the latest adaptation but new models will eventually emerge that rest on the new virtual platform. If universities value is based on its knowledge that it provides to students and society is it also possible that collective intelligence will be the next step in university development. Universities are collectors of knowledge and disseminate societal wisdom making furthering that agenda a mater of improving the knowledge collection and dissemination process.

Each student comes with experiences and knowledge that has the potential to improve curriculum. In the case of MBA programs, much of that knowledge is industry relevant and relates directly to theoretical concepts taught in class. The student is an untapped source of information that has real life experience that can further curriculum development.

Virtual classrooms collect masses amount of information but are not effectively using student knowledge to update and adjust models, curriculum and examples. The technology to allow for mass open innovation in solving large problems and updating information is available.

Technology affords the opportunity to leave comments, propose changes in examples, and provide links to other resources by large amounts of people. Collecting, analyzing, and incorporating this information is the same methodology that allows for customer feedback and the customer as co-creator in advanced businesses.

Ultimately all information in college is only beneficial if it is relevant and solves practical problems. It must be applicable to the student and who need or use this knowledge. When seasoned students can update course information and contribute to others knowledge they are able to develop more relevant examples and and more effective resolutions to problems.

The process of collective intelligence also encourages greater motivation among a student body that sometimes views education as something fluid they can jump in and out of.  With co-creation students are not passive learners but actively engage in developing, owning, and advocating for universities where their knowledge made a lasting mark giving them more purpose to stay engaged. Those students are not only graduates but also contributors to the next generation which gives the idea of Alumni a whole new depth.

How Multiple Education Models Help Protect America's College Standing

Just like we wouldn't put all of our money into a single investment it is not wise to force higher education into a single model. Sixteen of the top 20 schools in the world according to the U.S. News and World Report on the "Best Global Universities". That ranking is important for high profile schools but most people don't attend such institutions. Ensuring multiple models are accepted will help keep America competitive in the future as these models institutionalize.

It wasn't but a decade or so ago that online education hit the market. Even though people viewed its quality as low it spread quickly to other schools and into the international market. It has become common in the higher education world and slow innovators are losing out on potential students and international reach.

Having multiple models and incorporating new ideas is important for helping the country keep its leading position. When we try and legislate higher education to the point where only traditional models are acceptable we loose our ability to adapt and change. Our innovation declines and the cost of education continues to rise while the nation looses its educational competitiveness.

Traditional models are hear to stay but will continue to adapt emerging technologies or they will fail to have the same clout in the future. Elite land based universities will still attract rich students. New generations of elite schools that have more virtual reach are starting to sow seeds that will bear fruit in the future and lead new markets.

Multiple tracks is great for the development of national intellectual capital. Wealthy 18-25 year olds can attend one type of school, while working CEO's and professionals can attend another. Their knowledge will contribute to the university that attracts the most professional attention and market reputation. New models mean new opportunities in the U.S. and overseas.

Innovation in education requires enough freedom to do something new without being subject to excess restrictions. The arguments of quality are beneficial but the arguments for particular models are not. Education may someday be cheap and accessible to billions of people on the planet through something as simple as their cell phone or watch. Where the U.S. wants to be in that equation is an open ended question.

Using Formal and Informal Team Communication

Communication is so fundamental to collective action and human interaction that one has to wonder if it isn't THE fundamental principle of all societies. Teams rely heavily on communication to ensure that all parties understand their parts and coordinate their activities to achieve their goals. If communication isn't clear or forthcoming the team begins to break down and become ineffective.

Meetings may not be the most exciting time spent in the work place but do help to formalize the team's identity and goals through physical and social presence. Team communication creates the official doctrine of the team and what it hopes to achieve.

What might be more important is the unofficial team communication that occurs behind the scenes. As people negotiate their responsibilities and work toward fulfilling their work they will have lots of conversation and sharing of information.

Effective communication requires the formal and informal methods of sharing information. The formal creates the framework while the informal keeps the work moving forward. Having regular team meetings and communicating formally can help foster grater informal discussions that lead to better projects. You can steer the later by the former.

Formal Communication: Meetings, Memo, Documents, Emails and Publications.

Informal Communication: Text, Phone, Emails, and Face-to-Face conversation.

Quality Curriculum Improves Student Motivation

Motivation is a big factor in successful  adult completion of education. That motivation can be fostered from the quality of the school and its benefit to the actual student. If the information appears to be helpful to students and solves a problem then it contributes to development. That problem can be employment related or a personal problem.

According to a study of 203 university students motivating factors includes instruction quality, curriculum quality, relevance, pragmatism, interaction with students, solid feedback, and self-directedness (Sogunro, 2015). Students appear to understand the quality and importance of their program and respond accordingly.

Each student decides if they desire to engage their education programs fully. This is something universities can screen for but can't control. When they offer high quality curriculum they are more likely to be motivated than if it isn't. 

The study helps us think about why it is important to ensure schools develop solid curriculum and create higher levels of relevancy in the market. Constantly updating curriculum and engage with students helps to raise their learning and motivation. Professors that are actively engaged in their classes are worth more than those aren't.

Sogunro, O. (2015). Motivating factors for adult learners in higher education. International Journal of Higher Educations, 4 (1).