Are you an X-person or a Y-person?

Does the name Douglas McGregor ring a bell? If it doesn’t you’ve probably still experienced (internally or externally) his work.

In the 1960s he postulated his Theory X and Theory Y to describe attitude toward motivation (specifically in the workplace).

I think that these theories can be expanded to include not only workplace motivation, but motivation in general. These two theories can probably be best summed up as follows: Theory X = pessimistic view of people and motivation. Theory Y = optimistic view of people and motivation.

The basis of the two theories are:

Theory X - people are inherently lazy and will avoid work. They need close supervision and constant management to keep them on track. People prefer to be directed and dislike taking on responsibility and have a high need for security.

Theory Y - work is a natural part of life and people desire to excel and achieve. Job satisfaction is important and responsibility to implement and achieve a desired outcome are important and imagination and creativity are sought after and encouraged.

Of course, this is all just management theory - taught to aspiring BAs and MBAs. But if you look around, can’t you identify and categorize people into these categories pretty easily?

All around me are “X-people” and “Y-people”. The owner of the company I work for is most definitely a Y-person. He fully believes that people want to work hard, will work hard and are driven by responsibility and achievement. He will gladly handout more and more responsibility to anyone who asks for it. This is the filter through which he sees the world - to him everyone looks like a Y-person.

My father is more of an X-person. He believes that unless he’s directing a lot of little details about things happening around him, people will not do what’s necessary to accomplish the task at hand. This is the filter through which he sees the world - to him everyone looks like an X-person.

More than just a management theory, I believe that the “X” and “Y” perspective of viewing the world is something we apply to our own filters. If we believe people don’t want to work and need constant, micro-management we tend to apply this belief (unfairly) to everyone. Conversely, if we believe in personal responsibility, motivation and a sense of accomplishment and achievement by a job well done, we tend to apply that belief (unfairly) to everyone.

It can bite us in the backside both ways. I am a very strong Y-person and several years ago I was in a position where all of the management had an “X” orientation to motivation. Working in that atmosphere was unbearable. I was miserable and withing months of joining the team I was looking for a way out.

On the other side of the street; I had a person working for me a few years ago who would - if left to their own devices - do nothing to further their projects. They needed stronger guidance and supervision than I provided (being a strong Y-person) and subsequently they did not last long in the position either.

My job failed me because the management didn’t change their “X vs. Y” filters. I failed my employee because I didn’t change my “X vs. Y” filters.

The ideal solution is to evaluate people and put them into a situation that’s most comfortable and conducive for them, but most of the time we don’t stop to think about things like motivation factors. We often assume that people are motivated the same way we are, and that’s how we interact with them.

The first step to breaking out of our routine of seeing the whole world through a set filter is to know what the differences are (thank you Douglas McGregor!). The second step is to evaluate the relationships you’re in and the people in them to find out if it’s most appropriate to wear “X” glasses or “Y” glasses.

We have to learn to change our filters from permanent lenses to interchangeable lenses we can switch out when needed.

If you’re reading this article and this web site, I’m going to take the liberty and assume I’m communicating with another strongly oriented Y-person. I try to know my audience and write accordingly. This site is probably not well received by strongly oriented X-people.

Intellectually this makes a lot of sense, but actually doing it takes practice and work. The stronger your predilection towards “X” or “Y”, the harder you will have to work to view people through the other filter.

Sometimes the glass if half-full and sometimes the glass is half-empty, the trick is knowing which it is in the context of those that you interact with. My challenge to you is to work to try and view your “audience” through the appropriate X/Y glasses.

* * * * * If you enjoyed this article, will you please consider bookmarking it on del.icio.us?

Here are some related articles you might also enjoy!

• Success requires support.
• Raising the bar on your goals.
• Do you always do what you’ve always done?
• Work standing up - Day 1
• Starting fresh when you’re buried deep!

February 4th, 2006

Entry Filed under: Passion, Productivity, Career