How to Unlock Your True Motivation and Performance with Daniel Pink's Drive
A summary and review of the bestselling book that reveals the surprising truth about what motivates us in the 21st century.
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what really motivates you and others in your life and work? Do you think that rewards and punishments are the best way to influence behavior and performance? If so, you might be surprised by what Daniel H. Pink, a bestselling author, and expert on human motivation, reveals in his book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”. In this book, Pink challenges the conventional wisdom of Motivation 2.0, which relies on external incentives and disincentives, and proposes a new approach based on intrinsic motivation, which relies on autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In this blog post, I will share with you some of the key insights and lessons from this book, and how they can help you improve your motivation and performance in the 21st century. I chose to write about this book because I found it very inspiring and enlightening, and I hope you will too.
The following material is my summation of Daniel H. Pink’s book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”. All ideas are credited to the author Daniel H. Pink.
Our Operating Systems
Societies have operating systems (OS), and these OS are based on the genealogical makeup of human beings. The first operating system was based on survival “fight or flight” entitled Motivation 1.0. As our societies grew into more complex and interconnected tribes so did our operating systems.
After many years of evolution, we received a new OS called Motivation 2.0. This OS was based on a “carrot and sticks” or to seek reward and avoid punishment. Motivation 2.0 has endured for a very long time and is the core foundation for how most people and organizations construct their lives.
The Problems With 2.0
Rewards can be useful for certain tasks where people have no intrinsic motivation typically non-creative, mundane, and routine. However, rewards make a task feel like work while simultaneously extracting the creativity and performance out of an activity.
Rewards can also lead to:
Unethical Behavior - people will choose the quickest route to accomplish a task.
Addiction - Rewards are similar to drugs in the sense that they are short-lived, addictive baseless, and insubstantial. There have also been studies showing that the same chemical disperses of dopamine surges to the brain when people are anticipating a reward.
Encourage Short-Term Thinking - Rewards narrow our focus by prioritizing reliability and algorithmic processes.
Motivation and What Drives Human Behavior
There are essential two types of human behaviors: Type X and Type I. Type X focuses on external motivators, people of this kind are fueled more by extrinsic desires rather than intrinsic ones. Type I behavior is charged more by intrinsic desires than extrinsic ones. Here are a few key differences between the two behaviors:
People who are Type I almost always outperform people who are Type X in the long run.
Type I does not disdain money. They care about fair competitive compensation/raises to take it off the table. With Type X money is the table.
Type I is a renewable energy source because the source is ourselves.
Type I promotes greater mental and physical well-being. Self-determination theory (SDT) found people oriented toward autonomy and intrinsic motivation have higher self-esteem, better interpersonal relationships, and generally greater well-being compared to those who are extrinsically motivated.
While both may be considered reasonably necessary Type I behavior is preferable for its detachment from extrinsic motivators, an if-then reward system we’re we have seen can cause dastardly sub-par results.
“The course of human history has always moved in the direction of freedom” - Richard Ryan
An Operating System For The 21st Century
The world has changed since our last OS update. Organizations are leaning more towards structures that are leaner and less hierarchical, which means more individual ownership of an activity. People are finding work more creative, interesting, and self-directed. Previous tasks that were routine, boring, and algorithmic are being slowly replaced by technology. Along with these changes and the innate issues that come with the old 2.0 OS we are in desperate need of a new update.
Introducing Motivation 3.0. This new OS is based on Type I behavior. A behavior that allows people to feel truly fulfilled in their lives and at work. Creativity can only flourish with autonomy. This means people need autonomy in their work, time, team, and project(s). As you might infer unless you are a free agent organizations are responsible for responding to giving people this creative autonomy. Indeed while some companies are stuck in the old Motivation 2.0 OS many have made the update to 3.0 and are reaping its benefits.
Examples of Organizations Using 3.0 OS
ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) Schedules have been adopted by many companies notably Best Buy. In ROWE Schedules people don’t have to be in the office at certain times, they just have to simply get their work done.
Netflix and many other companies offer unlimited PTO to their employees.
FedEx Days. Developed by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar founders of tech company Atlassian. FedEx Days are days where employees are encouraged to spend a day working on any problem, something not related to their job. FedEx Days got its name because people have to deliver something overnight. This exercise has not only provided Atlassian with some of its most innovative products; but more importantly gives people full autonomy over their tasks, time, and team.
Zappos an online shoe retailer known for its customer support has a unique way of hiring and managing its customer support agents. They offer prospective candidates $2,000 dollars at the end of the hiring process to eliminate any extrinsically motivated people. The agents that are hired are not given any scripts and are not monitored at all by the company. Rather they are simply instructed to serve the customer.
Homeshoring allows customer support reps to work from home instead of a single call center because people feel more comfortable at home. This has led to a striking improvement for typical call center jobs where the turnover rate exceeds 100% annually. Companies utilizing this new methodology include JetBlue, 1-800-Flowers, J.Crew, Office Depot, and even the IRS.
In Whole Foods department leads don’t do the hiring, rather the department employees have the power to hire future employees.
Newly hired engineers at Facebook spend a trial of six weeks in a company BootCamp. While in this trial period prospects spend time learning about the company’s culture, working with various engineer teams, and meeting new colleagues. After the boot camp, the prospective employee gets to decide which team they want to join.
Steps To Boost Your Motivation
The ingredients for genuine motivation are autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Knowing this the next simple but challenging task is putting ourselves in environments where our innate psychological needs can flourish.
“Try to pick a profession in which you enjoy even the most mundane tedious parts. Then you will always be happy.” - William Shortz (Puzzle Guru)
We discussed some examples of autonomy in the workplace, so let’s go into the second ingredient mastery.
The Three Laws of Mastery
Mastery is a mindset - “Incremental Theory”. For example, intelligence may vary slightly from person to person, but it is ultimately something that with effort we can increase.
Mastery is a pain - Effot gives meaning to life, it means you care about something, something is important to you and you are willing to work for it.
Mastery is an asymptote - Something we come close to without ever quite reaching it. It is an ongoing improvement which attracts us. The joy is in the pursuit more than the realization.
Edward Deci and Richard Ryan psychologists and creators of SDT say we should focus our efforts on creating environments for our innate psychological needs to flourish.
Purpose
We can cultivate purpose in our lives and work by finding ways to connect our actions to a larger cause, by expressing our values and passions through our work, and by making a positive difference in the lives of others. This also applies to originations. Many different types of companies are emerging not solely focused on profit maximization but rather focused on contribution. For example:
TOMS Shoes - For every shoe sold TOMS gives another pair of new shoes to a child in a developing country.
Zappos - Defines its purpose as “delivering happiness to customers, employees, and vendors
Unilever - COO Harish Manwani transformed the company’s purpose from selling soap to improving hygiene and health in developing countries.
Grameen Bank - Founder Muhammad Yunus pioneered “microfinance”, provisioning small loans and other financial services to low-income people, especially women, who lack access to formal banking systems. Muhammad was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this in 2006.
Emergence of B Corporaiton - B Corps. is a type of corporation that aims to create positive social and environmental impact in addition to generating profit.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, Daniel H. Pink’s book “Drive” offers a compelling and insightful perspective on what motivates us in the 21st century. He challenges the conventional wisdom of Motivation 2.0, which relies on external rewards and punishments, and proposes a new approach based on intrinsic motivation, which relies on autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He also provides practical examples and tips on how to apply Motivation 3.0 to our personal and professional lives, and how to create a culture of innovation and excellence. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the science and psychology of motivation, and how to harness it to achieve their goals and dreams.