A Lesson From "Scrubs"

So, I was watching SCRUBS the other day and it got me thinking about the class that I just finished during my last semester of my undergraduate degree. It was a capstone management class and the professor wanted to show us how the traditional management styles are wrong and how people are really motivated to do a good job.

          During the semester we played a game called FLOPS. The game had two parts. The first part had a bunch of students sit at desks in a semicircle each the same distance from a desk in the center that had a bin on it. Each student had 10 pieces of paper that were crumpled up into balls. There were also two inspectors and one head inspector. The professor was the boss. The boss would tell the students to do a good job and in order to motivate them, he told them the student who did the best would be rewarded. They had 30 sec to throw all the balls into the basket while the inspectors watched. The head inspector had to watch the inspectors to make sure they were not being bought off. There were four rounds of this. All of the numbers (the ball counts and other valuables) were entered into a computer. The winner of each round was rewarded with fake money or a fake trip.

          That was the first part. The second part was called FLOS. In this part, there were five different students who sat at the desks. This time though, there were no inspectors or boss that looked over the student’s shoulders. The students were not timed and no rewards were given out. However, this team did a much better job at working together and getting a (much) higher number of balls in the bin.

          This is a quick overview of the game, but the basic message is having a boss who looks over you shoulder and gives out praise, rewards, and punishments is not the most productive or effective was to build teamwork or productivity.

          Now, back to SCRUBS. If you are not familiar with the show, it is on Comedy Central, set in a hospital, and follows a group of doctors. They cover a lot of issues in a fun way. The main character is JD, or John Dorian. The other main character, Dr. Cox, has been working at the hospital for a long time. Dr. Cox is always giving the other characters, mainly JD, advice. However, he does not give out this advice nicely, but instead makes very elaborate and mean comments. He tries to teach them about their work and life without just telling them.

          JD and Dr. Cox have a good relationship that grows over time even though they won’t admit it out loud.

          In the hospital where they all work, Sacred Heart, there are lots of interesting characters and they are always learning something.

          The connection between the show and the class is in how the characters are motivated. There are no real rewards or punishments given out at the hospital, besides keeping their jobs. The young doctors and interns are motivated by their need to help people and be the best. They are also motivated by their need for friendship and approval. JD wants Dr. Cox to approve of him. Dr. Cox will not give him that satisfaction in order to keep him motivated, although he does let on to it once and awhile.

          The FLOPS game showed me the same thing. People are naturally motivated to do a good job and be the best that they can be. A manager’s job is to make sure the workers have what they need in order to do a good job, not to yell when they do not meet quotas. Being truthful and open with everyone in the organization will be more motivation then giving out prizes and punishments.

            The biggest lesson I learned was the traditional management style is not the most effective. Staying positive and motivated is more about how much you want to succeed and not about rewards for doing a good job. Managers should therefore create a good, happy work environment where people will want to work and succeed.