Exploring Motivation Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose. Is it time for an upgrade?
Most of us believe that the best way to motivate others and ourselves is with external rewards like money-the carrot-and-stick approach. According to Daniel H. Pink in his book "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us", the secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home-is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does- and how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that's precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today's challenges. When it comes to motivation, Pink tells us that there's a gap between what science knows and what business does. Our current business operating system-which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators- doesn't work and often does harm. We need an upgrade. And science can show us the way. Pink presents three critical elements to motivation: 1. Autonomy - The desire to direct our own lives. 2. Mastery - The urge to get better and better at something that matters. 3. Purpose - The yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. The fundamental principle is this: "Give people autonomy over what they're doing and how they do it, an opportunity to master it and a sense of purpose in doing it in the first place." Autonomy Our "default setting" is to be autonomous and self-directed. Unfortunately, circumstances including outdated notions of "management"- often conspire to change that default setting. People need autonomy over task (what they do), time (when they do it), team (who they do it with), and technique (how they do it). Companies that offer autonomy, sometimes in radical doses, are outperforming their competitors. Mastery Motivation demands engagement. Only engagement can produce mastery-becoming better at something that matters. Mastery begins with "flow"- optimal experiences when the challenges we face are exquisitely matched to our abilities. Smart workplaces therefore supplement day-to-day activities with "Goldilocks tasks"-not too hard and not too easy. Mastery also abides by three peculiar rules: - Mastery is a mindset: It requires the capacity to see your abilities not as finite, but as infinitely improvable.
- Mastery is pain: It demands effort, grit, and deliberate practice.
- Mastery is an asymptote: It's impossible to fully realize, which makes it simultaneously frustrating and alluring.
Purpose Humans, by their nature, seek purpose-a cause greater and more enduring than themselves. Traditional businesses have long considered purpose ornamental-a perfectly nice accessory, so long as it didn't get in the way of the important things. That's changing- thanks in part to the rising tide of aging baby boomers reckoning with their own mortality. Purpose maximization is taking its place alongside profit maximization as an aspiration and a guiding principle. Within organizations, this new "purpose motive" is expressing itself in three ways: - In goals that use profit to reach purpose.
- In words that emphasize more than self-interest.
- In policies that allow people to pursue purpose on their own terms.
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