Moving Motivators (or CHAMPFROGS)

A technique I often use when working with teams or individuals is Moving Motivators. It is an practice invented by Jurgen Appelo.

It is important to understand what motivates us individually and as a team. What motivates one will not necessarily motivate another.

I find it particularly useful to have someone do this at the beginning of a coaching engagement.

From the website:

“The Moving Motivators exercise is based on ten motivators, which Jurgen derived from the works of Daniel Pink, Steven Reiss, and Edward Deci. These ten motivators are either intrinsic, extrinsic, or
a bit of both.”

“What is intrinsic motivation? According to Jurgen this is defined as people’s innate desires to do well and to have an eagerness for self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives. Successful intrinsic motivation is the result of the fulfillment of basic desires

What is extrinsic motivation? External rewards such as payments, bonuses or promotions”

The Ten Motivators

As the Alt text in Medium is limited (and the image is small) here is the entire description of each card:

Ten motivators each is represented by a square card with an illustration, a title and a description.

Acceptance — A person with a big moustache “The people around me approve of what I do and who I am”

Curiosity — A magnifying glass “I have plenty of things to investigate and to think about”

Freedom — A bird flying among clouds “I am independent of others with my own work and responsibilities”

Status — A podium with 1st second and third place “My position is good, and recognised by the people who work with me”

Goal — A mountain with a flag in the top “My purpose in life is reflected in the work that I do”

Honor — A medal “I feel proud that my personal values are reflected in how I work”

Mastery — A rook and a pawn chess piece “My work challenges my competence but is still within my abilities”

Order — Building bricks in a pyramid shape “There are enough rules and policies fora stable environment”

Power — Dominoes about to be tipped over by a hand “ There’s enough room for me to influence what happens around me”

Relatedness — Four speech bubbles in different colours “I have good social contacts with the people in and around my work”

What to do:

• Have people read the detail of each card, decide what it means to them and arrange them in an order which indicates which are more important and which less important to their motivation.
• Discuss
• That is it.

How to do it:

I have done this with groups and individuals.

With a group I will normally ask people to pair up and spend a few minutes laying out the cards in an order which shows the impact of that factor on their motivation. I will ask them to speak to the other person in the pair, compare the order of the cards and talk about why they put things where they did.

If necessary I might talk through an example (probably my own) explaining my rational before we do this.

I will ask people what surprised them.

With an individual I will ask them to lay out the cards and then will ask them to talk me through it. I will ask questions and make some notes if anything seems to be worth noting.

I have done this in person and online. In person I use a printed out copy of the cards available from the website and online I use a Miro board set up for the purpose and make notes directly n the board using stickies.

People are often surprised by what does and doesn’t motivate their peers.

How would you use it?

What is CHAMPFROGS?

Curiosity, Honor, Acceptance, Mastery, Power, Freedom, Relatedness, Order, Goal, Status