Major Cobb is type ISFJ and takes his energy from the inner world of thoughts and emotions. He prefers dealing with facts and people, and making decisions on the basis of personal values. His life is organized on a personal basis, seeking to enjoy relationships with people he likes. He is a quiet, serious observer of people, and is both conscientious and loyal. He prefers work that involves being of practical service to people. He is often concerned for and perceptive of how other people feel and dislikes confrontation and conflict.
Sgt. McIIhenny is type INFP and takes his energy from the inner world of thoughts and emotions. He prefers dealing with patterns and possibilities, especially for people, and prefers to make decisions on the basis of personal values. His life is flexible, following new insights and possibilities as they arise. He is quiet and adaptable (up to a point - when his values are violated the normally adaptable INFP can surprise people with his stance). He will seem to be very interested in ideas, and he may sometimes make very creative contributions. He cares for people and a desire to see self and others grow and develop. He prefers to undertake work that has a meaningful purpose.
The old man is type INTJ and takes his energy from the inner world of thoughts (and, maybe, emotions). He prefers dealing with patterns and possibilities for the future, and making decisions using impersonal analysis. His life is organized on a logical basis. He is a strategist, identifying long-term goals and organizing life to meet them. He tends to be skeptical and critical, both of self and others, with a keen sense of deficiencies in quality and competence. He often has a strong intellect, yet is able to attend to details that are relevant to the strategy.
Before Savage was given charge of the 918, the pilots and crew were showing signs of frustration-regression. This is the process whereby a person who is unable to satisfy a higher need becomes frustrated and regresses back to the next lower need. The Alderfer’s ERG Theory relates to existence such as safety and basic needs; relatedness needs as interaction with others; and growth needs whereby they achieve personal satisfaction. Due to the lack of accomplishment in their assignments, they reverted back to drinking and being lazy and actually trying to stay safe. This would show they were at the lowest level of ERG.
Need for power refers to a desire to control one’s environment, including people and material resources. We believe that Brigadier General Frank Savage was motivated by the learned need for power. Initially, we did believe that his first instincts were to use this situation to advance his own career and personal interests. It is important to watch his motivation change as he began to learn and bond with his subordinates.
The pilots and crew showed a learned need of affiliation (nAff) where a person seeks approval from others, conforms to their wishes and expectations, and avoids conflict and confrontation. When changes were initially made by Savage, the learned need surfaced. The pilots and crew basically conformed to his wishes to avoid conflict. Later on they begin to resent him and did not mind the conflict, which manifested itself into each of they asking to be transferred.
Savage also showed signs of the effort-to-performance expectancy. I believe initially he really thought that he could get the tasks accomplished by becoming tough on them and making them fly more and more.
The leper colony were a group of pilots who were not performing well and their behavior was not improving at all, they believed that the commander would not include them in dangerous missions. In order not to compromise the entire team and kept acting like that, under-performing for the same reason and not caring for the others. The entire group was not motivated due to the recent change in command whereas the previous commander, who working with them had gained their respect and admiration, understood their problems and concerns as a group.
Savage was concerned in general that this behavior might spread to other groups in the army. He attempted to motivate them in an effort to stifle what he thought might end up a company-wide problem. When Savage assigned them the name “Leper Colony” and demeaned them in order to motivate them, the pilots and crew in the Leper Colony may have developed an Equity Theory. They perceived the lack of fairness in their treatment as compared to the other pilots. This may have motivated them to fly more, but take more chances while doing so.
The Leper Colony needed a strong leader who could help them believe in themselves and to lead them into new challenges. The morale had to change. However, this motivational theory was not working because they needed integration with other groups, participation in the basic training. Individuals feel emotional tension when they perceive inequity.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory according to Lee and Norma Barr, hypothesizes that within every human being, there exists a hierarchy of five needs. These are separated into higher and lower order needs. The lower order needs, which are predominantly satisfied externally, are physiological and safety needs. The higher order needs, which are satisfied internally within the individual, are social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. The theory states that as each need becomes substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. Therefore, to motivate someone, you need to understand what level of the hierarchy the individual is on, and focus on satisfying the needs at that level or above that level.
The motivational theory that management chooses to use must be willing to change as lower needs are meet and eventually have no impact as motivation is concerned. This requires constant feedback and interaction with the pilots or employees whatever is the case.
Works Cited
Barr, Lee; Norma Barr. The Leadership Equation. Eaking Press, Austin, Texas. 1989.
Hirsh, Sandra Krebs. Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Organizations.
Consulting Psychological Press, Inc., Palo Alto, CA. 1985.
