Daniel H. Pink is the author of four provocative books about the changing world of work — including the New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind and Drive, which together have been translated into 28 languages.
As humans we all have drives and motivations. Our biological drives are not all that makes us human.
Biological drive, Reward and Punishment drives, there is also the drive to do things interesting, important – because we are connected to something larger than ourselves.
The view in organizations is 2 dimensional. we stop the biological drive and employ the reward and punishment drive.
A Harvard study showed-
As long as the task required mechanical skill a larger reward produced better results. When the task required even rudimentary cognitive skill the greater the reward led to worse results.
More carrots and sharper sticks do not work.
Story of a company called Red Gate Software:
The salesforce was compensated by commissions- Sales people began to game the system. the company made the system more complex, sales people uped their game. The compay eliminated commissions. CEO talked to head of the Sales dept. to figure out the problem, he suggested the removal of commissions, and raise base salary and profit sharing. Tom said, “good idea. but James will never go for it because he only cares about money.” James said, “good idea. but Tom will never go for it because he only cares about money.” False assumptions result in flawed decision making.
False assuption #1 – Human beings are more complicated than machines, more fuel = more results.
#2 – Humans are blobs and if not rewarded or punished they will sit and do nothing. People want to be active and engaged.
Enduring Motivators:
Autonomy - Management didn’t imminate from nature, it is a technology from the 1850s designed to get comliance- outdated. Management does not lead to engagement. Self-direction leads to engagement. Best bosses give autonomy. Autonomy over Time Team Task and Technique.
Mastery The single largest motivator at work are the days people make progress. FLOW, is an activity so engulfing that the concept of time is lost. Flow is most likely to happen at work, because leasure is so passive. Feedback is a contributor to flow. The more frequent the feedback the greater the perception of progress. Set goals and track progress individually / with team. Like an athlete that has a coach but still makes progress on their technique.
Purpose – When the profit motive becomes disconnected from the purpose motive bad things happen. To only chase profit over purpose is demotivating. Business should act like charities (social) not that charities should work like businesses. Diagnostic – Listen for pronouns, “we” or “they” is there an ownership by employees leading to a “we” organization.
Can I change the organization? No. Can I change what I do tomorrow? Yes.
Every great change begins with a conversation.
