THE IN BETWEENIE

Douglas Mc Gregor in his book “The Human Side of Enterprise” examined two types of theories; X and Y of human motivation at work.

 Let’s relate to an experience many are familiar with; the education system. In school there exist scholars that are towed to class; these have extremely low levels of motivation. They only perceive yoke to revise once exams approach, lest they be unsuccessful. They possess not an ounce of intrinsic motivation within their vessels. In the typical Ugandan education system (one I undertook).  They need a whip to be reminded they’re in school. These are whom Mc Gregor refers to as the theory X.

On the other hand, theory Y proponents are the brood that is much focused and love to study. In the Ugandan setting these don’t need a whip to apprehend the rationale for their existence in school. They manufacture results much effortlessly. Now I am not saying that the theory X proponents don’t produce results. I am simply saying the former yields much more effortlessly.

The Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation are highly essential

Today’s work force is predominantly representative of neither of the theories. On the other hand we seem to have inhabitants of their middle ground; in between the two theories.  These I have grown to call the “in betweenies”. These neither ascribe to the X nor Y. They are in between the necessity for some sort of motivation to work and self motivation. They create a balance between the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Their motivation is arguably seasonal.

My experience with the in betweenies in school is that they seem to pass and excel holistically. They excel past class work to other sectors of life.

According to Douglas Mc Gregor’s theories, workers that ascribe to theory X have very limited motivation to work and can hardly work without maximum supervision. On the other hand, the ones that ascribe to Y require minimum supervision to accomplish their tasks and can work effectively without supervision.

It has come to my attention that the best people to hire are not necessarily those that ascribe to theory Y but rather the “In Betweenies” since a combination of these two yields much more than any of the two.

A combination of the two yields much higher motivation.

Do not seek the extreme; the in betweenies are the way to go.