One of the wonderful aspects about human imagination
is that it can see things not as they are now, but as they can
be; it can foretell the future, based upon our beliefs and
expectations, in an almost uncanny way; it can draw the
colorful mental images that we hope someday to turn into
reality. Imagination is the beginning of creation.
Dr. David McClelland of Harvard University demonstrated
this through a series of "projective tests." In these tests,
McClelland used photographs or drawings depicting basic
scenes. For instance, in one photograph, a man was lying in
bed with his eyes closed. His hand was raised and extended
over an alarm clock on the table next to the bed. A window
in the background was bright with the rays of early morning
sunlight. McClelland asked his subjects to either describe
the scene or tell a story about the person in the picture. To
be sure that the responses were solely a function of motivational
levels, the subjects for each test were people of the
same sex, age, social background, and level of education.
This was McClelland's hypothesis: Since all motivation
comes from internal images, the subjects in the study who
demonstrated the highest and most active levels of imaginative
power would become the most successful in achieving
their personal goals. He called these people "highly motivated
achievers."
His experiments confirmed his hypothesis. He found that
highly motivated achievers told action-filled, goal-oriented
stories about the scenes. People with a lower motivational
level generally gave bland, passive descriptions of the
images.
For example, after viewing the photo of the man in bed
holding out his hand toward the clock, a highly motivated
achiever might describe a man who has to wake up early
and get back to work on an important project that kept him
up late the night before. They would even describe details
of the project.
On the other hand, McClelland's less motivated subjects
tended toward a passive interpretation of the scene. Many
described a sleeping man who is reaching to turn off the
alarm because it's Saturday and he doesn't have to go to work.
McClelland was not content to accept the results of the
first study at face value. He continued to ask himself the following
question: What if individuals don't start off with a
vivid imagination, but their professional position demands
a vivid imagination? If, in fact, highly motivated achievers
developed their imaginative abilities in response to their
jobs, it would mean that their imaginative powers might not
have played a role in motivating them to their level of
extraordinary success.
In other words, how could McClelland be certain that the
vivid imagination of these individuals was a cause of success
and not a result of it?
He solved the problem by devising a second study that
took 14 years to complete. For four years, he gave his projective
test to college students. After giving the last projective
test, he compiled the results and divided the students
into two groups. The first group comprised those who
showed the same traits as the highly motivated achievers of
his earlier study, and the second group included those who
were of average motivation.
McClelland then waited 10 years before he could complete
his study, giving the students time to establish careers.
He knew that if those with the most vivid imaginations
were the same ones who had advanced furthest up the corporate
ladder, he would have proof that vivid imaginations
played a key role in helping people advance the furthest in
life. He would have proof that a vivid, action-oriented imagination
was a cause, a prerequisite in maintaining a highly
motivated state, not just a result of success.
Ultimately, McClelland's findings confirmed his expectations.
The highly motivated achievers, those students who
told the most vivid, action-oriented stories in the projective
tests, had most often chosen entrepreneurial careers involving
a large amount of personal responsibility, initiative, and
personal risk. The other students gravitated to nonentrepreneurial
fields that required much less personal initiative. From the 14-year study, McClelland concluded that highly
motivated achievers find the strength of their motivation in
the power of their imagination.
McClelland's research may seem complex, but there's one
principle woven throughout all his studies: The more vivid
and real the image that motivates you, the stronger the motivation.
As we hold a picture in the hands of our imagination, the
enormous power of our minds is set on achieving it. Soon,
depending upon the difficulty and complexity of the image,
it is ours ... it is a reality, where before it was only a picture
in our imagination.
Source: Psychology of Motivation by Dr. Denis Waitley.
Learn more about Denis Waitley today.