Thus, the full range or continuum from extreme pain to extreme pleasure is certainly one fundamental concept we can use to understand people motivation.
Entrepreneurs know what gives pleasure to people: pesos, praises, promotions, power, participation. They know the formula for pain: penalties, prejudice, pressure, and punishment.
As people "program" their likes and dislikes (or, according to some theories, are programmed genetically), their personalities develop. Some prefer to think in a very logical, sequential and rational way (otherwise known as left brain thinking) while others prefer to "trust their intuition" or "follow their heart" in the right brain mode. Some people are generally "thinkers" and some are generally "feelers".
Some people want a very ordered life, fully programmed and well-timed. They have a preference for things that are "nice and neat". They abhor chaos, uncertainty, and untidy rooms. Others dont have any sense of time at all. They live in a very unstructured, free-flowing world. They love freedom and spontaneity.
In order to motivate people, one has to understand what they prefer or abhor to do at the mental and emotional plane. Entrepreneurs must profile their people well in terms of who they are and what turns them on or off.
Aspirations deal with the wants, yearnings, and desires of people. In essence, they dwell on the cravings of the human spirit, in contrast to the physical, mental, and emotional context of the first two motivational concepts discussed earlier. Human aspirations have a wide rangefrom the desire to have more power to the search for unparalleled fame, from the tangible accumulation of assets to the attainment of abstract ideals such as freedom, peace, justice, and equality.
Deprivations are human voids that must be filled or human needs that must be met. Deprivations can range from satisfying basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing to filling spiritual voids such as lack of purpose, meaninglessness, and insignificance.
Human aspirations allow the spirit to soar. Great feats are accomplished in the name of lofty ideals. Human deprivations rob the spirit of its energy, reducing people to animals or automatons. They bring out the worst in people. Entrepreneurs must be sensitive to what their people dream of and what they despair on.
To summarize, the three motivational planes are (1) physical, (2) mental and emotional, and (3) spiritual. The physical range goes from the negative pole of pain to the positive pole of pleasure. The mental and emotional plane swings from the negative pole of abhorrence to the positive pole of preference. The spiritual plane starts from the negative pole of deprivations and ends with the positive pole of aspirations.
(Eduardo A. Morato, Jr. is on the faculty of the W. SyCip Graduate School of Business of the Asian Institute of Management. For comments and inquiries, you may contact him at: wsgsb@mail.aim.ed.ph. Published "Entrepreneurs Helpline" columns can be viewed on the AIM website at http//: www.aim.edu.ph).