The central idea in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, highlights the gap between what science already knows and what businesses still do. Traditional businesses have always been centered around the premise that you reward good work with more pay and punish bad work (the stick and the carrot theory), but this system often doesn't work. In some cases, it can actually do more harm than good because people tend to narrow their focus or skip steps when they have an end reward in sight. Many studies have shown that most people aren't motivated by financial rewards. They show that most of us are more motivated and fulfilled by Pink’s three elements of true motivation:

*Autonomy—the desire to direct our own lives

*Mastery—the urge to get better and better at something that matters

*Purpose—the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

According to Pink we are in the midst of a major motivational shift. Our first motivation was our biological drive. Then a period of motivation from structure and oversight appeared. And now we want autonomy to determine our own motivation. Since we've shifted to more creative tasks - a new age has arrived. We need to be more aware of intrinsic motivation and create a climate for it to flourish.

The book is chiefly geared toward the business community, but has ramifications for us all. It debunks the myth of the carrot and stick, that rewards get results and sticks get results -- always. No. Science, Pink says, proves otherwise. And he introduces one case study after another to make his point. Perhaps the most salient is the example of the encyclopedia. Back in 1995, Microsoft paid writers big bucks to write Encarta, an encyclopedia sold on CD and as software. Only, around 10 years later, Bill Gates' boys had to wave the white flag and fold up camp, vanquished and defeated by a competitor that paid no one and offered its encyclopedia for free. That competitor? Wikipedia. Written by everyday Joes and Josephines the world over. For nothing. Then there was the Swedish blood bank. Its administrators decided to cash in by switching from a donation model to a pay-to-bleed model. What happened? Blood donations plummeted. Why? Swedes preferred to give blood for humane reasons, not for blood money. They did it for intrinsic reasons, not extrinsic ones. So what does this mean for businesses? It means the old ways of dictatorial managers overseeing not-to-be-trusted worker bees are over. If, Pink says, you give workers three gifts -- autonomy, mastery, and purpose -- they will work like hell for you (because it's as much for them). In many ways it makes sense. Given the choice, humans will work for less money if a company offers them more leeway, creative outlets, flexibility, challenges with long-term goals and camaraderie. Pink also points to our childhoods. We're all born with a built-in hunger to learn, to challenge ourselves and to work, but schools (and then workplaces) beat it out of us with monotony and inanity, dullness and repetition. What if, every week, you got a day to work on any project toward the company's cause you wished, as long as you presented your results to co-workers and administrators the following Monday? That's how Post-It notes were invented by a guy at 3M. The company gave its workers time to manage and challenge themselves.

In education, it amounts to adding relevancy to the classroom. What's the point? How does this connect to the world and how can it be used in the student's future? Can we give students choice, provide the tools, and turn them loose while serving as mentors? Oddly, many teachers cannot and will not because they feel like they will be ceding control and because they will no longer be doing their job the way they have always done it and/or the way their teachers always did it to them.

Intrinsic/extrinsic motivators

Pink's report on the self-determination theory and how it affects motivation is consistently fascinating. We traditionally acknowledge two drives that inspire action. The first is the biological drive, which is intrinsic. The second drive, which arguably has more to do with the workplace than the first, is material incentives, such as salary and punishment. These are extrinsic motivators. Under this view, work is agony and we need careful incentive and disincentive structures to control employee laziness. What Pink reports is that there is evidence of a third drive. It seems that people find satisfaction in completing tasks. In other words, people are intrinsically motivated to work and to produce. The key to motivating workers here is to give them: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. If one of these is lacking, people may actually not feel motivated to work at all. So if workers seem disengaged, Pink's solution is to stop focusing on carrots and sticks and start inspiring workers to feel like human beings by shaping work to engage the third drive. The self-determination theory in the workplace gets interesting when we consider the intersection of money, and the third drive. For complex tasks, carrots and sticks actually inhibit performance. Though they can help in the short-term, people that tap into the third drive almost always outperform the donkeys in the long term. Pink suggests that the most useful thing an employer can do to improve performance is to take the discussion of money off the table by offering a fair wage. So long as people make enough money that they feel they are being treated fairly, money will not stop them from performing. Next, offer them autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Pink introduces us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward. He also often mentions that most companies refuse to acknowledge the third drive. When they do acknowledge it, as Best Buy did, they often only allow middle or upper management to experience it.

Jobs the tyrant vs. Jobs the genius

Steve Jobs was noted for his often abrasive and abusive style in pursuit of better results, and many seem to believe that his willingness to disregard others in the pursuit of excellence was one of the secrets to his success. Pink offers an alternative explanation and is an excellent lens into the true genius of Steve Jobs, and those like him. In reality, Pink shows that the strongest results, regardless of the field, generally come from individuals who are intrinsically, rather than externally, motivated. Pounding on people in any setting produces short term results, but as Pink shows, it can have disastrous long term consequences. Despite this, Jobs and other tyrannical managers often show results. I suggest that the reason for their success is really in their ability to choose talent and offer vision, rather than their work style. Pink shows via numerous examples that, given resources, freedom and the opportunity to develop themselves, people will seek the highest and best use for themselves.

“Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one's sights and pushing toward the horizon.”

“The problem with making an extrinsic reward is that only the destination matters and that some people will choose the quickest route there, even if it means taking the low road. Indeed, most of scandals and misbehavior that have seemed endemic to modern life, involve shortcuts.”

“Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.”

“The ultimate freedom for creative groups is the freedom to experiment with new ideas. Some skeptics insist that innovation is expensive. In the long run, innovation is cheap. Mediocrity is expensive—and autonomy can be the antidote.” TOM KELLEY General Manager, IDEO”

“Goals that people set for themselves and those that are devoted to attaining mastery are usually healthy. But goals imposed by others--sales targets, quarterly returns, standardized test scores, and so on--can sometimes have dangerous side effects.”

“We have three innate psychological needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When those needs are satisfied, we’re motivated, productive, and happy.”

“People use rewards expecting to gain the benefit of increasing another person’s motivation and behavior, but in so doing, they often incur the unintentional and hidden cost of undermining that person’s intrinsic motivation toward the activity.”

“Goals may cause systematic problems for organizations due to narrowed focus, unethical behavior, increased risk taking, decreased cooperation and decreased intrinsic motivation. Use care when applying goals in your organization.”

Biography

Daniel H. Pink is the author of several provocative, bestselling books about business, work, and behavior — including three long-running New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell is Human. Dan’s books have been translated into 34 languages and have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. He is also the host and co-executive producer of “Crowd Control,” a new television series about human behavior on the National Geographic Channel. His articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Wired, and The Sunday Telegraph. Dan has provided business trends analysis on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks in the U.S. and abroad. And he lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on economic transformation and the new workplace. Before venturing out on his own seventeen years ago, Dan worked in several positions in politics and government, including serving from 1995 to 1997 as the chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore.

He received his BA from Northwestern University, and his JD from Yale Law School. He has also received honorary degrees from the Pratt Institute (2013), the Ringling College of Art and Design (2011) and Westfield State University (2010).

He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and three children.