Tribal and cultural beliefs and impact on motivation.

Hello friends,

In my last posting I discussed locus of control; how we view our relationship to life-changing events in our world.  I have been asked to talk more about the societal aspect, specifically the tribal world view.  I am happy to do this, but I would like to make a few related points first.

You may be asking yourself patient reader, “why is she talking about these other  things when she said this would be about motivating others?”   My reply, and one that you will read in this blog over and over, is that motivating people is about UNDERSTANDING people.  Individuals are not static, they do not stand still, they do not remain the same consistently.  In many ways, being a motivator is a lot like trying to hit a moving target.  The beauty and wonder and joy of humans is created from the same recipe for the frustration they can sometimes bring.

When you consider the relationships in your life with friends and family, you know that they are sometimes difficult.  There is a reason why the term “working” is often used to describe relationships.  Why should your relationships with others in your sphere be any easier?  Whether you are trying to motivate your children, family and loved ones, volunteer colleagues, parishioners,  or a workplace team, the complexity of human relationships does not get easier.  Nor should it.

If your goal for yourself as a productive human being  is to adapt and grow throughout your own life journey, why would you not expect that from others as well?  As they do adapt, grow, and change, the way they relate with others will also change.  In other words, motivating others is not something a person learns once in a classroom, or a few days of training.  Motivating others is rather a collection of knowledge, insights, and perceptions based upon a solidly grounded understanding of self and others.

There are a few basic concepts I want to ground this blog with from the beginning and one is the locus of control concept.  As you recall from my last posting, this paradigm is about whether we see the world as something over which we possess significant control, or something that is out of our control.  Interestingly, most career people wave their hands in the air shouting “INTERNAL” as if they feel it is the “right” answer.  Like so much of the business jargon one can see on any work related web site, control seems like something that upwardly mobile people should have.  In fact, there is typically  a rather arrogant interpretation that “they”, meaning of course other people, just don’t get it.  I expect the “I’m an internal”,  response from my seminar attendees in any business setting.

But then it gets interesting if I do a little bit of delving. If I ask the group whether or not they adhere to a religious belief system, and if so what role does their Divine play in their  life, it becomes a bit more dicey.  In fact, defensiveness jumps into play.  The same people who proclaim themselves as being internals, will often use the terminology “God’s Will” in the same sentence.  This indicates that they have not carefully thought  through their own world view.

If you are a child who lives in a village destroyed by hurricane, flood, or tsunami, do you believe you will grow up feeling in solid control over your life?  If your parent dies, hunger or abuse exists in your home,  the home is actually lost, your childhood health is poor,  your family has a member with birth defects, what perspective do you believe you would have on control over your own life?  I suspect you will feel a strong sense of vulnerability rather than control.

I currently spend a great deal of time with the Mescalero Apache tribe on their reservation.  This is a dynamic and proud tribal culture.  One of my Apache friends gifted me with a book entitled,  Living Life’s Circle; Mescalero Apache Cosmovision, by Claire Farrer. While the world view and vision of the Mescalero Apache tribe, like any Native American tribe, is nothing I can quickly cover in this blog, I would like to bring a few features to light as illustrations of tribal perspectives.

Farrer writes, “the chain of being established in creation places people not at the apex, as in western derived civilizations, but rather in a position of vulnerability. ..people are inherently weak, because they require the entirety of creation for their lives.  Apache children are socialized from birth to pay attention to their surroundings, to observe what goes on around them, to absorb quietly without questioning.” To place this in a more approachable statement, Apache children learn to be a part of what is.  They are not socialized to change what is.

Another example is the Aborigine of Australia.  Many of us are familiar with their creation stories and of their  construct of “dreamtime.”  Aboriginal children are brought into a circular perspective of life, within which they flow as in a dream.

Tribal societies value a communal set of teachings and values which are not the  current values in typical American business.  This has been an on-going  culture clash as the Indian Gaming experience has brought more tribal workers into the mainstream of their operations. Often a tribal community will be located in a remote geographical region and the jobs available at the gaming operation are needed by those who live on the reservation. These tend to be labor-intense workplaces with high demand positions and a need to respond quickly to the company’s goals and needs.  Serving others in what might be seen as a subordinate role, often in food services or custodial positions, requires a strong desire to please the visitor or guest. In a sense, it involves seeking approval from others (cultural outsiders), which may not be a value in an individual’s tribal culture. This implicit acceptance of a set of business goals is not part of tribal cultures.  Such cases happen daily and they require an ability to motivate and inspire tribal members in ways which ring true and valid in their tribal  life view.

And the gaming scenario is not unique.  Many years ago I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the tiny tribal island of Tonga in Polynesia.  The island is poor by American standards but rich in fertile soil and a lovely growing climate.  It was to their great dismay that international conglomerates tried and inevitable gave up on establishing packing plants for local grown produce.  The Tongans had a very different set of values and those did not include living by a time clock, following directions without social constructs, not placing family first over employment, and reaching goals which seemed meaningless to their life and culture. Their concept of what it meant to live a fulfilling life did not include these requirements.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote a very instructive book, A Season on the Reservation; My Sojourn with the White Mountain Apaches.  In this book he talks of the many mistakes he made as a basketball coach  trying to inspire and motivate Apache youth.  He came to learn that their place within the communal system was much more important than any goal he could set for them.  The book is a great example of how a world view, a locus of control, can shape the ways in which we motivate others. If you work alongside tribal people, please read this short and interesting book. Reading this book will bring you more understanding of the ways in which tribal people may be understood than any corporate training class will offer.

My purpose for this blog post is to point out that many people, I would venture to say the majority of the worlds’ population, have an external perspective of life.  They believe, based upon their experience and culture, that most of their life cannot be controlled.  If you are very honest with yourself, you may share that perspective based upon your own life experience.  The whole concept of gambling, which is as old as recorded history, is that luck may smile upon you.  If people believed that lucky circumstance did NOT exist, how many would go to casinos over and over again?

For purposes of motivating others, it is important to remember that one size does NOT fit all.  Within your sphere of influence are people who have a personal story, a cultural history, or a faith based belief system which shapes the way they look upon life, work, and relationships.  A leader understands this fully and realizes that telling others to “take charge, “lead”, “change the status quo”, may be a near impossible task.  A person may not even try.

If you remember that the “other” is NOT you, and is likely NOT motivated in the way you are, your possibilities of truly reaching them will be much higher.

Next time, I will be writing about preconceptions of other people, and also ways that your communication style may inadvertently be hampering your success as a motivator.

Thank you for taking time to follow this blog.  I appreciate it very much!

Marie