One sure way to prove yourself as someone that is too stupid to work in IT (and hopefully inflict some bodily harm) is to try the same motivational techniques that are used on dumb jocks on IT people. Believe it or not, what stimulates a 400lb linebacker to run through another stupid mass does not motivate people that spent 5 years in college earning their degrees so they can work in the tech industry.
It pisses them off because instead of working or getting something meaningful accomplished, they have to listen to this marketing puke that probably had a hard time figuring out how to work the elevator. No engineer or tech wants to listen to some washed up senior executive, out of touch and out of experience, congratulate himself for an hour.
IT people, and other knowledge workers, are motivated by purpose, meaning, vision, and understanding how they fit into the solution. They are motivated by speakers that have found unique solutions, that work on interesting projects towards big goals.
Thinking about hiring a motivational speaker for your tech troops? Then for gods sake, don’t pay some self-congratulatory marketing puke that is going to motivate them to go apply for an MBA degree because of the image you’re projecting.
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