I just finished Daniel Pink’s Drive last night and am fired up.
At it’s core, he shows us how extrinsic motivators popularized in the early 20th century manufacturing management of carrot and stick just don’t work anymore and in many cases actually demotivates people.
We must focus on intrinsic motivation. We do this by connecting people to a broader purpose, allowing them to set their own goals as well as how best to achieve them (autonomy), and encouraging practice and mastery of abilities.
I recommend this book to any manager, teacher, or parent looking to kindle the motivation within those that we lead. It means bucking many seemly given best practices such as “if-then” rewards, how bonuses should be given, and your control of the process.