Motivation is a subject on which I have spoken, published and consulted for 3 decades. Intrinsic Motivation that is and why Extrinsic motivation is so limiting and damaging to the very things a company holds most dear–especially if it is pursuing corporate responsibility. There has been so little available to stem the tide of misconstrued evidence that has filled organizations and schools with reward, recognition, incentives, and hundreds of other forms of one person seeking to motivate another- or many others. It is contrary to human nature except for our basic survival and tribal connections. We are more alive, creative and contributing when we manage our motivation by connecting with meaningful motives.

Daniel Pink has created an unbroken string of concepts in his writing career, that come form seeing patterns that others miss. And seeing the underlying threads, with research and practices, that explain them. Motivation, his latest subject in Drive, is particularly helpful because it is intended to crush a misconception that has saturated every aspect of our lives for almost a century now. Our current view of motivation is based on the study of rats begun by John Watson (extended by BF Skinner) when he “formulated” behavioral psychology. And that is fine if you are the manger, parent, or teacher of rats. But it is not accurate if you manage, parent or teach humans in all sizes.

In recent decades there has been a great deal of research on humans, not rats or apes, and how motivation works with them, that supplants much of what we have been taught and deeply believe. The message is, “humans are more motivated by intrinsic motivation in significant pursuits. In fact, humans are de-motivated by others seeking to motivate them with money, praise or anything from the outside”. Daniel Pink elegantly pulls this research into a compelling argument for stopping the insanity of trying to manage other’s motivation.

Section II: The Three Element of Motivation
Although I think there is another layer of answers to what to do to reawaken intrinsic motivation, Pink offers an excellent directional set of concepts for managing and teaching or any other situation where you have stewardship for people.
* Autonomy–let people define much of their own path, people are motivated when self-directed and self-organizing
* Mastery–as humans we natural aspire to Mastery and this is blocked when it is only a task without this opportunity to gain mastery
* Purpose–provides the context and connects the autonomous person, who is pursuing mastery to a greater whole or objective.

Section III: Pink in the final section, gives us a way to follow up on the ideas for ourselves and some practical suggestions on how to test the waters if your organization or family is buried in incentive programs. Some are personal, like improving your own motivation to exercise and others, a business manager can use. He surveys what the Gurus like Jim Collins of Good to Great say on the subject and puts in in one section. Section three is a set of examples of what is possible and even tested, to turn over a new leaf with human management and development practices.

If you have known for a long time that current motivation practices do not work, or just figured it out reading and thinking about it recently, DRIVE is a way to get the leaders in your company questioning whether what they are doing is working and start the ball rolling on how to change things that will improve the effectiveness of the organization and the spirit of people in it.