W. Edwards Deming Quotes

From the time I was growing up, if I felt that there was some, like, pot of gold waiting for me, I don't know that I would have been so motivated.

If your goal has no inherent reward, you do not have a goal.

Too many people hold a very narrow view of what motivates us. They believe that the only way to get us moving is with the jab of a stick or the promise of a carrot. But if you look at over 50 years of research on motivation, or simply scrutinize your own behavior, it's pretty clear human beings are more complicated than that.

I'm not a huge award type person, that's not really what lights my fire.

I believe you're either intrinsically motivated or you're not.

The key to motivation is motive.

One of the things we know is that you cannot motivate other people, but you can remove the obstacles that stop them from motivating themselves. All motivation is self-motivation.

Every kind of reward constitutes a degradation of energy.

Simply having rules does not change the things that people want to do. You have to change incentive.

Without a specific reason for the consumer to behave, without a reward or benefit, the overwhelmed consumer will refuse.

Man works primarily for his own self-respect and not for others or for profit. . . the person who is working for the sake of his own satisfaction, the money he gets in return serves merely as fuel, that is, as a symbol of reward and recognition, in the last analysis, of acceptance by ones fellowmen.

The nature of our motivation determines the character of our work.

The misuse of extrinsic rewards, so common in business, impedes creativity, stifles personal satisfaction and turns play into work.

Motivation is an inner force that compels behavior. Your inner drives will propel you further and faster than external perks.

In most cases, no matter what it is, if you measure it and reward it, people will try to excel at it

To focus on discipline is to ignore the real problem: We will never be able to get students (or anyone else) to be in good order if, day after day, we try to force them to do what they do not find satisfying.

Motivation is the key. More than training, more than experience or age, motivation counts. You have to ask yourself: 'Why am I racing?' I race because I like it, because I'm really enjoying it. I like to set up my bike and ride it on track. After 20 years in the GPs I'm still highly motivated. Everything else is a consequence.

The things that get rewarded, get done

The common wisdom is that ... managers have to learn to motivate people. Nonsense. Employees bring their own motivation.

Money is not the only thing that motivates employees. It's about making them happy.

What spurs a person to get more serious is highly individual, but I have found that no matter what a person's level of ability, motivation must come from within, or it will not last.

Life needs penalties and rewards for people. You can't control people with only penalties. You have to think how to create rewards.

Never, ever, think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives.

A boss wants to pay for results, an employee wants recognition for effort. If a boss recognizes effort, they will get even better results.

There are parents, siblings, teachers and friends, but counting on them to motivate you isn't fair. They've all got their own lives, and while the may be able to help you out, if you can motivate yourself, then you're golden.