What we are motivated by is a topic of conversation that has been discussed in conjunction with work for years. In his latest book, Drive, Daniel Pink has laid out some compelling information about what actually motivates us.
Pink has identified three key motivators for people:
Autonomy– It turns out we humans like to have a little freedom with the kind of work we do and when we do it. There are real life examples of how this has worked for Best Buy and Google.
Mastery– When we are working we want to feel like we are working on things that are important and that enhance our skills. Being put in a position to do this as often as possible at work is a positive.
Purpose– As a reader of this blog you already know how important purpose is to me. Drive illustrates how important working with purpose is to most people. Putting people in a position to work in a manner that serves a higher purpose is definitely a big motivator.
Regardless of where you are at with regards to the work that you do, there is compelling evidence that in the majority of cases the old model of the carrot-stick motivation techniques don’t serve the purpose we think it does. There are certain instances where the carrot-stick method can be effective but mainly in inhibits success rather than creates it.
This is a book I would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to look at new ways of inspiring people to take action.
Comments are closed.