Sunday, July 29, 2012

Identity is more than just shared purpose

When talking about shared identity, it is easy to believe that this is equivalent to shared purpose or meaning.  I believe that this is partly reinforced by the popularity of Dan Pink's Drive.

As I've mentioned before, Drive re-interpreted self-determination theory which talks about "relatedness", not "purpose".

Relatedness is about feeling connected to a group, to care and to feel cared for.  It occurs when we develop closer relationships with others.

I will submit that when we talk about shared identity, we are really trying to talk about relatedness.  And if we are talking about relatedness, it is not enough to find shared purpose.

We can have shared purpose and still not feel connected.  We can have shared purpose and still not feel cared for.  Those are just alliances of convenience.
at

3 comments:

  1. Leonardo Campos11:05 am

    It seems a matter of tribalism. What do you think about it, Jason?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jason Yip6:13 pm

    Depends on what you mean by "tribalism"?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leonardo Campos8:31 pm

    I'm not knowledgeable enough about this subject, but what I meant was the sociological/anthropological meaning of it.

    The little I know about it comes from David Anderson's book Lessons in Agile Management.

    Chapters 7 and 8 are devoted to this subject: Recognizing Tribal Behavior and Managing Tribes
    "Tribalism is about people - about relationships, affiliation, motivation, loyalty, leadership".

    "Relatedness is about feeling connected to a group.." << tribal behavior

    ReplyDelete