What motivates us? Some surprises about money — and autonomy, mastery, and purpose

By Rick Grbavac Watch this great little film by RSA Animate, adapted from a talk given by Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.  Pink’s point is that our previous ideas about what motivates people to greatness are only partially correct.  If performance involves mechanical tasks, more money does work to improve performance.  But as soon as there is any cognitive skill involved, more money as incentive actually works in reverse.  Three factors lead to better performance: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.  Giving people a chance to be responsible and perform their jobs without undue oversight is the first factor to enabling people to seek better performance.  People enjoy a challenge; when given an opportunity to improve their performance in a way that increases their self respect, they are willing and able to improve.  Finally,  people want to make a difference.  If they feel that their jobs have a higher purpose, they enjoy their work more and perform at a higher level.  These three factors are closely related to the qualities of the positive deviants in your organization.  PDs tend to operate without much management support (or interference).  They consistently look to improve their skills and capabilities. And they conceive of their jobs in higher moral terms, causing them to do different and more successful things. Factors for motivation = the qualities of positive deviants.  Every manager’s dream is to have a self-directed, motivated workforce.  This is what we do with our clients.]]>