Clear communication and attention drain

If autonomy, mastery and purpose are key drivers of motivation, then anything that detracts from their pursuit is likely detrimental to performance.

In organisations, few things have the power to impact motivation like lack of clarity and alignment.

Speculation and gossip arise from ambiguity. Humans need stories, we need a narrative, we need to understand why things are the way they are. If an organisation isn’t providing this, people will spend time making-up and discussing their own stories. This is time not spent mastering craft, (among other potentially detrimental effects).

Autonomy can be blunted when people are unsure of an organisations purpose. A certainty of direction provides a north-star for individuals to orient autonomous actions too. No north-star leads to speculation whether “this is the right thing to do”, which, in turn, can lead to inaction.

An organisation clear in communicating its purpose provides individuals with the opportunity to choose to be there based on the overlap with their personal drivers. Lack of clarity means lack of choice, which can ultimately lead to miss-matches.

Is your internal communication designed to create clarity and alignment?