Motivation

When I think back to Indigenous nations and tribes before contact, there is ample evidence of communities of people who were thriving, busy, hard working. When I think back on the rise of other communities and towns here in Manitoba (Winnipeg, Steinbach, Brandon, etc.), I again see people who were thriving, busy and hard working. They did not have all of the modern conveniences we have today and life was definitely more challenging, but they did it. They succeeded in developing communities and many elders still alive can recount many fond memories, despite the "challenges" of not having our modern conveniences.

What did they have in common? What can we learn from our ancestors?

First, one thing that they did have in common is the fact that there was no vast government across the whole of northern Turtle Island (what is now referred to as Canada). This meant that the people did not have some large structure with a pool of funds and resources to draw upon for assistance in a project. If a project was to be undertaken, the community of people had to employ strategies that they, themselves could implement.

On an individual level, leaders of the time were spokespeople, not slaves, not maintenance workers, not resident handy-man. So, if someone needed something done (food hunted or gathered for supper, clothing for the family, proper lodging, etc.), they had to do it themselves. They might have asked for help, or they may have sought out a mentor to help them learn a particular skill or they may have bartered with others for the expertise they needed.

Another common element among these communities, whether they were settlers or Indigenous communities, is that they understood the importance of supporting one another within the community. Success was clearly defined as being broader than individual success. They also understood that people had inherent value. A community is formed of people, not of money, resources, or material assets. With each person having a gift to share and skills to benefit the community, the concept of "unemployment" as we experience today did not exist. Equally so, the concept of vindictively withholding support for a fellow community member's skill was virtually unheard of.

It wasn't so much that the people of the past were necessarily perfect or entirely altruistic. The circumstances of the time demanded that they work together, support one another, and ensure success for each other as a group. Today, circumstances are such that we have a false sense of security. We believe that the success of our neighbour, or lack thereof, has little to do with our own potential for success. The result is a society made of disconnected individuals, loosely bound by politic structures (ie. Canada is a political creation).

In this society it is easy to pursue selfishly individualistic definitions of success. It is easy to withdraw support for a neighbour's skill or business over a petty disagreement or an equally petty sense of jealousy. It is easy to avoid our neighbours, or to ignore the plight of others in our society. It is easy to turn a blind eye to economic exclusion of others in the belief that their misfortune has no effect on our own destiny.

Comparing the past to the present, the key variance that comes to mind summarized in one word - motivation. There are a few angles on this to explore. First, having motivation itself is critical to economic engagement. If I have no motivation to work to seek food, I won't. Worse still if I live in a system that provides my needs without pushing me with any incentive to engage in any form of economic activity at all. As any successful entrepreneur or business person will tell you, the difference between success and failure is heavily influenced by the level of motivation.

Motivation is what drives people to do things. We have a need to fill, which motivates us to seek ways to meet that need. The level to which we are motivated will determine the level of effort, engagement or commitment we offer. This is where our society today differs from the experience of our ancestors. For our ancestors, if you did not engage in economic activity (ie. Hunting or farming),   then you starved. Therefore, you had a very real motivation to work.

Today, we take away motivation from people in two very serious ways. First, we provide social assistance in a way that does not develop capacity or skill and offers no motivation to work for what they are receiving for free. Second, our society often breaks the spirits of many by denying them opportunities to work (systemic racism, hiring bias, training mismatch, etc.) or by punishing efforts to acquire skill (ie. Social assistance gets cut off if a person takes training or courses. It is also cut off if a teenager of a parent on social assistance gets an after school job).

Dealing with the challenge of motivation is complex and critical to the success of a community. One famous quote that summarizes, both the challenge and the solution was spoken by Theadore Roosevelt: "Do what you can with what you have, where you are." This requires an entire communal mindset change, but it is the first place to start.

Having motivation is certainly important, but the second angle is to question what kind of motivation. If the motivation is purely individualistic, there will be pockets of success, but that still may not result in a successful or healthy community. For example, if my motivation is purely based on personal profit, then I might outsource manufacturing of a product to a country that knowingly uses either cheap labour or child labour. However, if my motivation is personal AND community success, then I will hire locally, produce locally, train up fellow community members, even if it means a smaller profit margin.

The rewards of one approach is purely individual and financial, while the rewards of the other is a mix of financial, social development, community development, and the broader definition of success that leads to greater sustainability. In a study on entrepreneurship and motivation, it was discovered that entrepreneurs were not interested in money for its own sake. They were motivated to create, to take action, to provide for their needs, personal achievement, and the adventure of being part of something bigger than themselves. Interestingly enough, one cited success factor was the practice of sharing profits with employees.

For our Indigenous communities, then, we need to reclaim the motivations we once had (and that some of us retained) and ensure that it is the right kind of motivations we develop and reclaim. We have the power to do what we can with what we have no matter where we are. This is something that nobody can take from us, but it is something that we can lose or give away.

If you are in a remote community far removed from economic markets, or a large community with urban reserves and main transportation corridors, be encouraged. You have gifts and passions that the Creator gave you. You can use those no matter where you are. Once that begins to happen, the motivation and drive is contagious and we will be able to rebuild economically successful communities once again.