Posted by Yogesh Malhotra on June 17, 1997 at 02:03:03:

In Reply to: Chess as social metaphor and not just a game: Lessons for Knowledge Management posted by Michael Kran on June 16, 1997 at 22:29:06:

You have drawn an interesting contrast between 'game' and 'work.' However,
there are some additional perspectives on this issue that seem relevant
to the issues of human motivation and learning processes. There are at least
two different contexts within which one may view the human motivation or
personal commitment as pertinent to learning processes.

In the first context, intrinsic motivation literature suggests that
more a person does an activity based on one's choice [the notion of
'wants to do'], the more facile, creative, enthusiastic the person would
be in doing that. In contrast, if the individual does the same activity
because 'one has to do' for getting a reward or avoiding some punishment,
then the person is doing it for the sake of doing it, not because he or
she cares much for it. This contrast is observed in terms of intrinsic
motivation versus extrinsic motivation. [Caveat: there are situations when
the person is doing what 'one wants to do' and it may be same as what
one 'has to do.']

Projecting this thinking onto 'playing chess,' it may not clearly suggest
why the person is playing... Perhaps, in case of most chess grandmasters,
one may tend to believe that they play chess because they 'enjoy' playing
chess and they enjoy the 'game' [The same could be suggested about other
players in other sports such as figure skating, athletics etc. ... perhaps
the notion extends to what is generally describes as 'sportsman [sic]
spirit.'] In this perspective, most players play the game to 'have fun' -
at least they suggest that they do it with that 'frame of mind' to deliver
the best performance.

The above issue is related to the second context. Within this context,
the contrast between 'game' and 'work' may be considered in terms of
internalization and compliance: the two extremes of a continuum of
'personal commitment' to the activity or task. In this view, internalization
implies that the person does the activity because he or she "wants to do it"
whereas compliance implies that he or she does it to please others.

Based on the above two views, personal learning [or for that matter,
education] may be considered as a process that needs intrinsic motivation
and 'personal commitment' [to the process]. If it becomes 'work' it may
not necessarily result in consistently best performance. Perhaps, this
suggests the need for maintaining the 'game' of learning and knowledge
creation. March's 'Technologies of Foolishness' seem to be one such
example in organizational literature.

---

Follow Ups:

• Question Edgars Ivbulis 13:46:34 11/16/98 (0)
• Re: Knowledge Creation: "Game" or "Work": On Motivation and Commitment Michael Kran 13:37:03 6/23/97 (15)
  • Re: Knowledge Creation: "Game" or "Work": On Motivation and Commitment Neil 19:29:15 6/02/98 (0)
  • Integrated Theory of Motivation kimberly 11:58:15 10/12/97 (13)
    • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation Tania Claudia 03:42:10 3/23/98 (3)
      • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation frances Huang 20:29:49 10/06/98 (1)
        • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation Editor 12:10:23 10/12/98 (0)
      • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation frances Huang 20:29:44 10/06/98 (0)
    • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation Deb 17:42:17 3/19/98 (6)
      • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation Susanne Rix 01:19:31 12/11/98 (0)
      • Re: Motivation Theory Joseph Denson 22:54:46 5/02/98 (3)
        • Re: Motivation Theory Kate Henry 13:22:17 11/02/98 (1)
          • Re: Motivation Theory kate henry 13:42:55 11/02/98 (0)
        • Re: Motivation Theory Neil 03:14:16 6/04/98 (0)
      • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation Deb 17:43:56 3/19/98 (0)
    • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation ruth winter 09:38:03 10/27/97 (1)
      • Re: Integrated Theory of Motivation w 07:53:56 12/02/97 (0)

---

Click Here to Post Follow Up in New Forums

    Knowledge Management Think Tank (New)

  

 Subject: 

Message: