Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose: Dan Pink Presents "Drive"

"Autonomy is the desire to direct our own lives. Research shows that this is a fundamental human impulse and yet a lot of the ways we structure organizations fights against it. We try and control what people do, how they do it, who they do it with, and how they allocate their time." Dan Pink

Dan Pink

Welcome to a Success Strategies Channel podcast on TotalPicture Radio with Peter Clayton reporting. According to Dan Pink, everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. In his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us he pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential.

Case studies of Google's 20 percent time (in which employees work on projects of their choosing one full day each week) and Best Buy's Results Only Work Environment (in which employees can work whenever and however they choose—as long as they meet specific goals) demonstrate growing endorsement for this approach. A series of appendixes include further reading and tips on applying this method to businesses, fitness and child-rearing. Drawing on research in psychology, economics and sociology, Pink's analysis—and new model—of motivation offers tremendous insight into our deepest nature.

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According to Pink, people would prefer activities where they can pursue three things:

Autonomy: People want to have control over their work.
Mastery: People want to get better at what they do.
Purpose: People want to be part of something that is bigger than they are.

The central theme in Drive is the mismatch between what science has discovered and what businesses do when it comes to motivating people.

Dan Pink Biography:
Daniel H. Pink is the author of several provocative, bestselling books about the changing world of work.

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and describes the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an outsourced, automated age. A Whole New Mind is a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into 21 languages.

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need is the first American business book in the Japanese comic format known as manga and the only graphic novel ever to become a BusinessWeek bestseller. Illustrated by award-winning artist Rob Ten Pas, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko has been translated into 14 languages.

Dan’s first book, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, was a Washington Post bestseller that Publishers Weekly says “has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations.”

His articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor. He has provided analysis of business trends on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks in the U.S. and abroad. He also lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on economic transformation and the new workplace.

A free agent himself, Dan held his last real job in the White House, where he served from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. He also worked as an aide to U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich and in other positions in politics and government.

He received a BA, with honors, from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a JD from Yale Law School. To his lasting joy, he has never practiced law.

Resources
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

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Judy Rosemarin - Spot On

|64.12.116.xxx |2010-03-14 16:48:47

This interview was excellent and, as an Executive Coach for over 27 years, I wholeheartedly agree
with your research and premise of what motivates people. What intrigued me most was as the boomers
come into their later phases of life, purpose will assume a huge place, probably more in line with
Gen Y'rs and that could be an amazing confluence of events. Who's to say
not?
www.sense-ablestrategies.com

Artie O'Connor - Hit nail on the head!

|74.92.59.xxx |2010-03-09 09:59:37

Reading "Drive" is a validation to a teacher who has been implementing these concepts in
school today. Learning is more important than a grade attached to it. How we learn is a great
debate. It can be attributed to motivation and the individual. Dan expalin's individual situations
that relate to an internal mechanism that motivate us to do what we do.