Moving Motivators: Uncover What Drives Your Team

THE MENTAL MODEL: Moving Motivators is a structured conversation that turns the abstract concept of motivation into a tangible card game. It helps you understand what truly drives a person and, more importantly, how a specific change at work will affect their personal drive.

HOW IT WORKS: The exercise, invented by Jurgen Appelo, is based on ten universal motivators that are a mix of intrinsic (e.g., curiosity, honor) and extrinsic (e.g., status, rewards). In the game, a person first orders the ten motivator cards from most to least important for them. Then, when considering a specific organizational change—like a new project or a shift to remote work—they physically move the cards up (positively affected) or down (negatively affected). This creates a visual map of how the change impacts what they value, sparking a meaningful discussion.

WHEN TO USE IT: This tool is effective in three main scenarios. First, during onboarding, to quickly understand what makes a new team member tick. Second, before implementing a significant change, to anticipate and discuss its impact on team morale. Third, as a general team-building exercise to foster empathy and help colleagues understand each other's priorities.

WHEN NOT TO USE IT: Avoid using Moving Motivators as part of a performance review or to determine compensation; doing so weaponizes the tool and destroys psychological safety. It is not a tool for telling people what they should be motivated by. Also, do not run the exercise if leadership is not prepared to listen to the results and have an open conversation about them.

ONE CANONICAL EXAMPLE: A manager wants to move her team to a new project that requires deep, individual focus but has less customer interaction. She runs a Moving Motivators session. One engineer, who ranks "Relatedness" (social contact) high, moves that card down, showing a potential drop in motivation. Another engineer, who ranks "Mastery" high, moves that card up, excited by the technical challenge. The manager now understands the change's mixed impact and can proactively address the first engineer's concerns, perhaps by building in more pair programming or team social events.