Motivating Engineers: Purpose and Deadlines

I have been asked how I motivate engineers. And before I answer, there is one thing that is a bigger motivator: what we are building. If engineers can have empathy for the customer, can walk in their shoes, understand their pain, and how they can help, I will already have a motivated engineer/employee. If we hire such people, our job is easier, that's first.

"If engineers can empathize with the customer's pain and understand how they can help, you've already won half the motivation battle. The deadline is what gets you the rest of the way."

Ok back to how... As humans (well me, but assume I am not alone) we are born procrastinators, putting off things indefinitely for many reasons. Some of us are labeled as procrastinators, because our deadlines are scary, or by people who feel we are causing ourselves stress (maybe we are, maybe we are not). As humans, we calculate our effort allocation using an internal formula:

Motivation = (Value of Task ÷ Perceived Effort) × Deadline Pressure

We instinctively solve for when to start: 'If the deadline is D days away, the task requires E hours total, and my comfortable daily work rate is R hours/day, then I can postpone starting until D - (E ÷ R) days from now.' But this calculation often underestimates complexity, leading to crunch time.

We learn over time the limits and boundaries that we push, but for the most part, we assume when it needs to get done we can get it done. We have already charted in our minds how we will solve in time. We rationalize how much pain it will be to do in a shorter period, but we don't actually spread the work evenly. Why is that? We even claim we can't find time... which I know there is plenty. It's how we fill it.

Though it's worth noting that some people do spread work evenly. They want their days to be balanced. They do smaller bursts of hyper focus. Even though their procrastination seems non-existent, it's that they can't afford to "procrastinate" because their goal is balance. Again, they're still deadline driven.

Let's get back to how that goes back to motivation. Deadline. A line in the sand... of where the thing is expected. Now it's back to the engineer... there is a job to be done and here are expectations. I have been part of unattainable deadlines, or cushy ones, or just the right balance between push and cushy. So a deadline is key. I will get it wrong, I will get it right, just learn and move on. The next is back to human mind. It functions really well when I give it a single task and a deadline. Voila magic.

So I get my engineers motivated by:

• Creating belief in the purpose of what they're building
• Connecting their work directly to customer impact
• Setting varied deadlines (from challenging to comfortable) to maintain rhythm
• Eliminating distractions and obstacles that block progress

At the end of the day, motivating engineers isn't about fancy frameworks or management theories. It's about connecting people to purpose, setting clear expectations, and removing obstacles. When engineers believe in what they're building, understand their impact, and have the right mixture of deadlines to keep them focused, they'll consistently deliver their best work. That's the simple formula that has worked for me across teams, projects, and companies.