Inner Work Life: Understanding the Subtext of Business Performance

Teresa Amabile, research director at Harvard Business School, has worked for years on intrinsic motivation. In this article, she and Steven J. Kramer share the findings of a study on the performance impact of the emotional and psychological state of employees. They did this by tracking 238 professionals working on 26 projects, who were asked to keep a daily journal to note down the notable events in their day and their mood. By cross-checking these results with observed performance, the research team emphasized the importance of the attitude of local managers and especially their willingness to take all means necessary to help people carry out their work.