I just finished reading Drive, the book about motivation from Daniel Pink. It's well worth a read if you want ideas on how to motivate others. Here are some of the practical take away points from a cricket coaching angle.

  • Old school motivation of "carrot and stick" only works for routine tasks. Anything else needs people to be internally motivated (motivation 3.0 as Pink calls it).

  • Intrinsic motivation depends on people having choice over what they do (autonomy), a Goldilocks challenge (not to easy, not too hard), and a reason to do it (purpose)

  • Coaches can help players find their purpose by asking why they are playing and what they want to achieve. Then checking in regularly to see if they are on track.

  • Players are more motivated if they involved in the creation of goals, ideally deciding them for themselves with some support from coaches.

  • "Deliberate practice" is important. For almost all of us, the cornerstones of practice are a clear objective, immediate feedback, repetition, and is an appropriate challenge.

  • Autonomous practice is also important. Give players space to decide what they want to do. This could be "free play" for 10-20% of training, or a bigger project where players plan an activity then put it into action.

  • Rewards for performance are much more motivating if they are given by peers.

  • Activities can be more motivational if they are novel and engaging, and have a clear connection to a deeper purpose.

Although not quite a checklist, these are some useful ideas to frame practice. Are we offering up autonomy, mastery at some level every time we coach? I know I could do this more.

Posted
AuthorDavid Hinchliffe