Octalysis Anti Core Drives: Prime sneak peak by Yu-kai Chou, Godfather of Gamification

Introduction

In this section, the speaker introduces themselves and poses a question related to demotivation.

• The speaker asks a question related to demotivation and its opposite, motivation.

Lack of Motivation vs Demotivation

In this section, the speaker discusses the difference between lack of motivation and demotivation.

• The speaker explains that there is a difference between not having motivation and being demotivated due to fear or other factors.

• They express difficulty in categorizing this information when analyzing behavior.

• The Octalysis framework can be used to analyze motivations for desired actions, but it may not be as useful for understanding what is blocking undesired actions.

Anti-Core Drives

In this section, the speaker explains anti-core drives and how they relate to desired actions.

• Anti-core drives are those that motivate people away from desired actions.

• Everything else that is not a desired action is usually an anti-core drive.

• Core Drive 8 (avoidance) is often connected with anti-core drives. If someone does not want to do something because they are afraid of punishment or consequences, it would be considered an anti-core drive rather than core drive 8.

Motivating Desired Actions

In this section, the speaker provides an example of how different core drives can be used to motivate someone towards a desired action.

• A startup trying to recruit someone from their corporate job could use different core drives such as changing the world (CD1), autonomy (CD3), interesting work (CD7), and being part of a dynamic team (CD5) to motivate the person towards joining the startup.

• However, if the person is motivated by anti-core drives such as prestige or fear of change, they may not be interested in leaving their current job.

Core Drives and Anti-Core Drives

In this section, the speaker discusses core drives and anti-core drives in relation to corporate and startup environments.

Understanding Desired and Undesired Actions

• Corporate environments have desired actions for employees to stay, while undesired actions are for them to leave and join a startup.

• Startups can use anti-core drives such as risk-taking, prestige, autonomy, creativity, and impact to attract employees from corporations.

• Corporations can address anti-core drives by offering more autonomy or creative roles. They can also highlight the bigger impact of working at scale.

Flipping Core Drives Around

• Startups can argue that there is no loss in avoidance when developing a company because it's already on an employee's resume.

• Startups can also argue that there is no risk since they will know if they are successful or not within two years. If it fails, employees can always go back to a big company.

• Companies can turn core drive lost in avoidance into an anti-core drive by highlighting the risks of not working with a startup.

Gamifying SCC Compliance Trading

In this section, the speaker provides an example of how gamification was used to address core drives in compliance training for financial firms.

Addressing Core Drive Lost in Avoidance

• Big banks usually avoid working with startups due to their perceived riskiness.

• Companies can use core drive lost in avoidance as an anti-core drive by highlighting the risks of non-compliance and making it seem riskier not to work with a startup.

Addressing Anti-Core Drives

In this section, the speaker provides an example of how to address anti-core drives in a social setting.

Addressing Epic Meaning and Calling

• The speaker gives an example of someone who refuses to drink wine due to their religious beliefs.

• Companies can address epic meaning and calling by appealing to an employee's sense of deserving something or by highlighting that others are doing it too.

Managing Core and Anti-Core Drives

In this section, the speaker discusses how to manage core and anti-core drives in order to encourage desired actions.

Addressing Anti-Core Drives

• Sometimes it is necessary to address anti-core drives in order to encourage desired actions.

• Identifying which anti-core drives are most prevalent can help determine where to focus efforts.

• Strategies for addressing anti-core drives include making people feel smart (CD2) or creating a campaign that makes the desired action look cool (CD5).

Removing Friction

• One way to make an action easier is by removing friction, which addresses core drive 8 (loss & avoidance).

• Another way to make an action easier is by making people feel smarter, which addresses core drive 2 (development & accomplishment).

Overall, managing both core and anti-core drives is important for encouraging desired actions. Strategies such as removing friction and making people feel smart can be effective ways of addressing these drives.