Values-led work is supposed to be the dream, right? Work that matters. Work that aligns with who we are and what we care about. How many times have you heard someone say, “I do this job because I believe in it”?
So why do so many mission-driven organisations end up full of people who are exhausted, quietly disengaging, or even job hunting?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: values-led work is vulnerable to what we call the motivation paradox: the work that motivates us can, in practice, also demotivate us.
What Motivation Really Is
Motivation is often explained in two ways:
- Extrinsic motivation: driven by external forces—carrots and sticks, rewards and punishments, usually tied to authority.
- Intrinsic motivation: comes from within. It’s more resilient, more robust, and consistently linked to better outcomes.
Research repeatedly shows intrinsic motivation beats extrinsic every time. Meaningful work is intrinsically motivating. So why the slump in values-led organisations?
To answer that, we need to look at what intrinsic motivation is made of.
The Self-Determination Theory Lens
Self-Determination Theory says human motivation peaks when we experience three things in our work:
- Autonomy – I have choice and agency.
- Mastery – I’m good at what I do and improving.
- Connectedness – I belong and my work benefits others.
Sounds great, right? But here’s the paradox: the very things that motivate us can also trigger powerful demotivators.
Intrinsic Motivators vs. Demotivators
Motivators for meaningful work:
- Autonomy – I choose this work because it matters to me.
- Mastery – I’m successful and making progress.
- Connectedness – I’m contributing to something bigger than myself.
Demotivators hiding in the same space:
- Autonomy – This work takes me away from family or risks my wellbeing.
- Mastery – I’ve worked so hard, and nothing seems to change.
- Connectedness – People look at me like I’m crazy for caring.
When these demotivators dominate, motivation collapses:
- Sacrifice too much autonomy? → Apathy: It’s hard to care and why should I?
- No sense of mastery? → Despair: Why keep trying, no one is forcing me to do this.
- Lack of belonging? → Isolation: Why show up, who am I doing this for anyway?
These experiences are real and valid. Pretending they don’t exist or telling people to “just stay positive” is not helpful.
The Practical Strategy of Hope
So what do we do? We integrate the challenges alongside the vision. This can require quite a bit of creativity (essential practice for the Complexity Competent Leader).
Our creativity in service of richer shared vision allows us to live with pragmatic hope: living in expectation that
- I can work for a cause and look after myself and my dependents.
- I can deploy my skills in challenging contexts and notice signs of success.
- I can advocate for change in society and belong to a supportive community.
This isn’t something we can do for you. It’s contextual, unique, and lived out long after any workshop or programme.
So you can start right now with a simple self-coaching exercise:
Try This: Get Unstuck in 3 Steps
Grab a pen and paper (or open a note file). For each question, aim for 30 answers:
- What’s your best hope for the work you’re stuck on right now? (Keep asking “What else?” until you hit 30.)
- If all those hopes were just starting to coming true, what are the first 30 smallest signs you’d notice?
- Of the signs on your list that you’ve already seen (even only once) how did you make that happen?
If you try it, let us know how it went. If it’s helpful you might want to ask us about how we use these tools with teams and even large organisations. And watch out for our upcoming e-guide:
“7 Signs Your Organisation Is Stuck (and What to Do About It)”—spoiler alert: overcoming the motivation paradox is on the list.