Want to learn the ideas in Primed to Perform better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Primed to Perform by Neel Doshi and Lindsay… here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of Primed to Perform

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on Primed to Perform, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Neel Doshi and Lindsay..

1-Page Summary of Primed to Perform

Introduction

A culture is important to any organization’s success. However, only a few companies have great cultures. Apple, Southwest Airlines and Whole Foods are examples of this type of company. They seem to have some sort of “secret sauce” that makes them successful in the marketplace. It may be hard to put your finger on it, but there must be something special about these companies’ cultures that make them so good at what they do.

A great culture is created by the science of motivation.

Motivation is important because it helps you understand how to motivate your employees. When people are motivated, they tend to work harder and do better in their jobs. There are six elements that make up motivation: play, purpose, potential, emotional pressure, economic pressure and inertia. These elements can be increased by understanding them more thoroughly so you can increase your employees’ passion for their job and create a high-performing culture that will help the company adapt to change more easily.

For years, leaders have known the importance of culture in their organizations. However, they lacked the tools to develop great cultures. To help with this problem, Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor developed a simple science that can measure an organization’s culture (called the Total Motivation factor). By calculating this number for any organization and then identifying ways to improve it, companies can create amazing cultures that drive growth and performance.

Motivation Explained

Motivation is important because it’s the force that drives you to do things. For example, if a person goes on a diet and gets paid for it, they might not care about losing weight at first but will continue with the program until they get their money. However, once the money’s gone, so are they. A different group of people would see this as an opportunity to lose weight and keep it off even after the program ends.

Motivation is important because it can affect performance. There are many types of motivation, but some are more effective than others.

There are two types of motivation: direct and indirect. Direct motivations connect to the job itself, while indirect motivations come from outside the work environment. The latter tends to cause lower performance levels in employees. Let’s take a look at each type of motivation individually.

Play is the most important part of work. It makes it fun and enjoyable, which in turn makes people want to do more work. Some companies are great at encouraging play, like Google or Apple.

Purpose and potential are critical to motivating employees. Purpose is the reason for doing something, while potential refers to what a person can become or do. Motivating employees with purpose means that they value the outcome of their work more than how much they enjoy it. For example, an employee may be motivated by helping his customers save money on energy bills through a new product he helped develop. Potential motivates people who see their jobs as stepping stones toward other positions or as opportunities for personal growth and development.

Guilt and shame are examples of emotional pressure. People driven by these emotions work to reduce their negative feelings. They don’t care about the work itself, so they’ll often perform conservatively in order to avoid failure.

Economic pressure drives employees to work towards an external goal. For example, they might work overtime in order to achieve a better performance review. This is not only financial pressure but also the desire for awards and recognition.

The greatest negative impact of all the motivators is inertia. It can keep employees from doing their best work, even if they don’t want to leave their jobs. Inertia might also be mistaken for a high retention rate, but it’s not as good as it sounds because people are just going through the motions and aren’t really motivated by what they do.