Motivating Employees - Lessons from "Gung Ho!"

Motivating Employees - Gung Ho! In Gung Ho!, the authors Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles (1998) narrate the story of an American factory in which old Indian mores and cultural wisdom were used to create significant change in the institution. This wisdom transformed the organization from a firm that was losing money to a profitable organization. The book offers three key principles that have to be taken into consideration in the attempts to turn around the affairs of any institution that is struggling. These three principles are categorized into phases (proverbs) whose aim is to motivate any group or organization to achieve success. The three phases are titled as follows: “Spirit of the Squirrel”; the “Way of the Beaver”; and the “Gift of the Goose.”

In “Spirit of the Squirrel,” the primary aim is to help the team members understand that the work that they do actually benefits the world (Blanchard and Bowles, 1998). This seeks to make the employees of an organization realize that there is a social value embedded in the work that they routinely perform for the organization. The second issue in this phase consists of defining goals which are not only understood, but also shared by the team members. Thirdly, there is the need to define the values which will guide the activities of the team members so that they will be able to reach their defined goals.

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In the “Way of the Beaver,” team members are encouraged to take charge and put in the effort to achieve the shared goals which were set in the previous phase (Blanchard and Bowles, 1998). Here, the key aim is to have the management define the scope of the responsibilities that each team member holds. As in the “Gift of the Goose,” the emphasis is on ensuring that team members are constantly reminded of their value and contribution to the organization’s shared values and goals. In this phase the management also offers rewards for the efforts of team members.

Application of the Principles In their work, Blanchard and Bowles (1998) suggest that the first principle (“Spirit Of The Squirrel") is the most important as far as the transformation of an organization is concerned.

Thus, in my interactions with certain team members of the organization, I have always emphasized the need to have absolute conviction in the benefit of the work that an employee does. In other words, I often emphasize that to work in the health sector places one in a privileged position to effect change in people's lives (McCabe & Russell, 2017). In my experience, emphasizing this aspect to employees makes them have a positive attitude towards their work. In addition, employees begin to understand that their work has an impact over and above making a living for themselves. Emphasizing this point from the outset has always allowed employees to develop a commitment to the organization.

Future Application To turn the work environment into a positive space where employees feel committed to the success of the organization will require one to develop a long-term plan whose effect will be to turn employees into the stakeholders of the organization (Kappelhoff, Grotkopp, & Gaertner,

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2016). To improve morale, therefore, the first step will be to communicate to employees that their views regarding the workplace are valid and important (Stein, Macaluso, & Stanulis, 2016).

Through organizing work retreats and encouraging frequent conversations at the workplace, the employees will feel at ease to offer suggestions regarding the future of the organization. Indeed, as the work of Stein, Macaluso, and Stanulis demonstrates, it is only by showing that employees are an essential part of the organization that one can motivate them to put more effort into transforming the institution (2016).

Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth noting that Gung Ho! recognizes the input of employees in organizations. By using old Indian cultural wisdom, the two authors are able to demonstrate that team synergy, employee motivation, and a management that is focused on aligning the goals of the company with those of team members is essential to the task of transforming an organization for it to reach greater levels of success.

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Blanchard, K. H., Bowles, S. M., Krenzel, L., & Johnson, T. (1998). Gung ho!. New York: Morrow.

Kappelhoff, H., Grotkopp, M., & Gaertner, D. (2016). The Poetics of Mobilization: GUNG HO! Mediaesthetics – Journal of Poetics of Audiovisual Images, (1). doi: 10.17169/mae.2016.41.

McCabe, D., & Russell, S. (2017). ‘The Costumes Don’t Do it for Me’: Obstacles to the translation of ‘new’ management ideas. Management Learning, 48(5), 566-581. doi: 10.1177/1350507617714534.

Stein, K. C., Macaluso, M., & Stanulis, R. N. (2016). The interplay between principal leadership and teacher leader efficacy. Journal of School Leadership, 26(6), 1002-1032. doi: 10.1177/105268461602600605.