In thinking about my approach to team improvement, I use both sides of this. In the beginning, I lean more on the anxiety side of things: timeboxing, external pressure, exposed demand. However, I try to do it in such a way that people regularly experience flow. Once they develop a taste for it, once successful delivery of software become an enjoyable norm, I back off, and let boredom take over as a larger motivating factor. Flow is wonderfully addictive.

I think any sustainable approach has to maintain structures for both sorts of motivation in measured amounts. Excess boredom leads to disengagement, taking people off the flow curve in a way that’s hard to reawaken purely through being supportive. Excess anxiety leads to eventual exhaustion and aversion, which cannot be remedied except through time and patient support. I see long-running teams bumping up against both fear and boredom as they climb the skill/challenge line.

That’s certainly true in my own life. For example, fear about health is what got me to start regular exercise, and what brings me back after lapses. But what keeps me going and working to improve is boredom. Hooray for both of them!