Intrinsic & External Rewards (4/11/2025)
What motivates us? I have been thinking about this question a lot this week.
We all have many goals. They are both personal and career related. As a Suzuki teacher, I am thinking about my students who are getting ready for their solo recitals this weekend or an upcoming book recital. We set our goals, we face challenges, and we "tough" our way through them. The goals we set can be as small as just mastering a tricky passage in a single piece or putting two hands together in a piano piece, or it can be as big as finally feeling confident about a major concerto.
In the office we have just finished our update of the Employee Handbook and the Board of Directors had an intense meeting where we examined our Strategic Plan and set new goals for the coming three months. As we accomplish what we set out to do, we may feel a moment of satisfaction, joy, or triumph. It can also be a moment of feeling relieved that finally a project was completed. This is called an intrinsic reward. It is the personal emotion that comes with each achievement. It is important to celebrate these moments.
"a fulfilling workplace is built on moments of challenge, growth, and the pure joy of accomplishment."-Kailash Ganesh1
It is difficult to rely on intrinsic rewards. We are so busy, that often each moment of success gets buried "on the next thing." If we succeed in a small achievement like keeping the bow straight on the string or finally playing a tricky measure in tune, before we can appreciate the intrinsic reward, we are already moving onto the next difficult thing to do, the next piece, the next piece, or the next project. We need to stop and breathe. We need to enjoy the moment.
In the Suzuki lesson, we often have these small "wins" multiple times in the lesson. We don't want to overlook these. In fact, sometimes when the teacher notices this success, the teacher will say "do it again!" Repetition is important in that moment so that the success is not lost. We also need to make sure the student is aware of the wonderful accomplishment they have just made happen. Sharing this moment with words of praise, a smile, or a hug from a parent, can go a long way. We must cultivate the belief in the person that we acknowledge their job well done. This will also improve the person in front of us to realize better their own accomplishment and self worth. In this way, we are able to build confidence in the individual. It is our goal in the Suzuki pedagogy to build human character. By building self-esteem and confidence in a person, we establish an important foundation towards being a better person.
External motivation comes from promising an external reward for the achieved goal. As parents, we know this works! When we give points or stickers to our children for paying attention, cooperating with the teachers, and for working on those tricky practice spots, we are using extrinsic motivation. The work that is being sought after is rewarded with a form of compensation. In the workplace this is clearly evident by the external reward of receiving a salary or a bonus. We work in order to receive something in return.
Normally, teachers are focused on developing a sense of the intrinsic reward. To be internally motivated is what helps the individual grow as a person. Nonetheless, we are humans. Having the compensation or promised reward helps us to make a bigger effort to achieve the task or complete the project. The use of external rewards is not all bad. The important issue is how much reward is offered and when.
When we celebrate receiving a raise in one's salary by going out to a restaurant, that is an external reward. However, it is also taking the moment to enjoy the accomplishment and allowing oneself to feel the positive emotion that came with the success. Taking that time is important in order to feel the intrinsic reward. On a busy lesson day when we juggle work, picking up children from school, attending a lesson and music class or math class, we can promise our student "if you have a good lesson today, we can go out to dinner." I would try to frame this in a different way, "Lesson day is so busy, let's go out to dinner after your lesson so we can eat and not have to rush home." Then at the restaurant you might share what might have been the successes of the day: at school, at sports, at math class or at the music lesson. If you remember a particularly successful moment in the lesson "that was great how you were getting your pinky to be really curved today!" it shows that you are noticing positive changes in the student's life. Taking advantage of a seemingly external reward (Lesson Day is Pizza Day!) can also allow for connection to the intrinsic rewards.
When I was in Japan attending Dr Suzuki's Talent Education Institute, he would go around smiling to the teachers who were studying there giving out chocolates. He knew they were working hard and he was sharing his warm smile and a chocolate, an external reward. However, he was not asking different teachers if they did good work that day, nor singling out only those who did well. He also did not reward a single activity with an immediate reward. He was celebrating the whole person for the efforts that they were making.
I believe we must use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. However, finding the balance between these two is crucial. Most of all, being aware that we must develop intrinsic motivation and that it may not occur on its own but needs its own time and space can be an important life lesson for all of us.
1. https://www.culturemonkey.io/employee-engagement/intrinsic-rewards/