The motivational divide

THE ability to learn, Julie Sweet noted in a recent interview, is the most important skill for job seekers today.

Obviously the Accenture chief executive officer knows what she is talking about, considering that the company employs 700,000 people and had hired a staggering 200,000 talents in the past 18 months alone.

Indeed, to be successful in a changing world, the ability to continue learning is essential. All of us are capable of learning and acquiring a wide range of skills, behaviours and mindsets.

From the moment we were born, we learnt how to walk, talk and interact with others. These are major learning undertakings. So, how can we continue to activate this innate ability to learn and make learning a way of life?

Knowledge is power and for the most of human history, access to knowledge has been, in one way or another, restricted.

When books were handwritten and most of the population were illiterate, the divide was between the elite who could read and the masses who could not.

The invention of the printing press widened access to knowledge and learning but then, the divide existed between those who could afford the books and had access to schools and libraries, and those who could not.

Towards the end of the 20th century, knowledge digitisation enabled people to seek knowledge online. The decades that followed gave rise to a digital divide between those with access to the Internet and the devices to connect to it, and those without.

The first two decades of the 21st century were great equalisers. With 60% of the world population having access to the wealth of knowledge on the Internet, divides in various forms were demolished.

But are we making the most of the large quantities of high-quality, free digital content we now have access to?

In a world where knowledge is instantaneously available for free, the ultimate – and perhaps the final – divide is the “motivational divide”, argues futurist Marina Gorbis. The Internet made knowledge accessible but it also provided endless amounts of free entertainment at our fingertips. Now more than ever, self-motivation, self-management, grit and persistence are necessary to take advantage of easily accessible tools for learning, collaborating and creating.

Having the motivation to learn the relevant skills and cultivate the right mindset is the ultimate skill that we all need, adults and children alike.

Schools use assignments, exams and deadlines to provide extrinsic motivation and to ensure that students learn the syllabus, but how can we grow the intrinsic motivation capacity of people to keep lifelong learning beyond formal education?

One way would be to embrace “ikigai” – a Japanese concept that explains how the intersection of what we love to do, what we are good at, what the world needs, and what we can be paid for, gives us a deep sense of purpose and brings meaning to our lives. Individuals who live in this space are motivated to have a positive impact on the world beyond themselves.

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, beyond our physiological and psychological requirements, our ultimate desire is for self-actualisation, which is to live a life of meaning and fulfilment of our potential. In this state, we are intrinsically motivated to add value and continue to learn and explore.

Developing a clear sense of purpose and an understanding of how it can be mobilised into positive impact on the world can be the source of true lasting motivation.

Education institutions, business leaders and policy makers ought to prioritise the development of this sense of purpose so that we can bridge the motivational divide and achieve our full potential.

PROF MUSHTAK AL-ATABI

Provost and chief executive officer

Heriot-Watt University Malaysia;

Deputy chairman

Vice-Chancellors’ Council for Private Universities