The Power of Progress/The Progress Principal

• One of the most important discoveries of this study was that making headway on meaningful work brightens inner work life and boosts long-term performance. This creates the progress loop where progress and positive inner work life fuel each other. A similar loop exists for setbacks and negative inner work life. Amabile and Kramer conclude that making progress in meaningful work is the most powerful stimulant to great inner work life. Conversely, setbacks are the biggest downer. Sometimes setbacks are due to the difficult nature of the work. Other times it is due to managers or coworkers who undercut ideas or fail to help. Facilitating progress, therefore, is the most effective way managers can improve inner work life and productivity. Only 5% of the manages in their study ranked this first.

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