Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Recent research in the area of economics, sociology, and physiology have uncovered surprising findings into what motivates our actions. Businesses, schools, and even parents have primarily relied on a system of rewards and punishments to trigger behavioral motives—reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. The research has found that although rewards and punishments work well for mechanical tasks it fails miserably for cognitive (critical thinking) tasks actually producing opposite behavioral results.
The three key findings in Daniel Pinks book Drive (and covered in this illustrated talk) focus on the intrinsic motivations vs. the extrinsic reward/punishment motivators.
- We are purpose maximizers not only profit maximizers
- We care about mastery a subject deeply
- We want to be self directed
Earlier this year I read Drive, and I highly recommend the book… especially if you find the illustrated talk above interesting.