I was having a great discussion yesterday with a colleague on a wide range of topics, and the subject eventually came around to what motivates people to get things done. Of course the answer to this question is not simple. People are motivated by many things.
Sometimes people are driven by ambition, other times by passion or love of what they are doing.
But the one thing, we agreed, that always get people going, is the fear that something they love will be taken away from them. Maybe it’s their home, or their pride, or their place in their particular tribe. But fear of losing something near and dear can be a more potent motivator than just about anything else.
At that point I had a revelation. “Hillary Clinton was wrong,” I said.
My colleague asked what I meant.
“She once said ‘It takes a village.’ But the real motivation,” I explained, “comes when somebody is just about take away your village. So it would probably be more accurate to say ‘It takes a pillage.’