Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

by Daniel H. Pink

“People use rewards expecting to gain the benefit of increasing another person’s motivation and behavior, but in so doing, they often incur the unintentional and hidden cost of undermining that person’s intrinsic motivation toward the activity.”

Goals that people set for themselves and that are devoted to attaining mastery are usually healthy. But goals imposed by others—sales targets, quarterly returns, standardized test scores, and so on—can sometimes have dangerous side effects.

elements of deeper motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—

where “if- then” rewards are a mistake, shift to “now that” rewards—as in “Now that you’ve finished the poster and it turned out so well, I’d like to celebrate by taking you out to lunch.”

keep in mind one ginormous caveat: Repeated “now that” bonuses can quickly become expected “if- then” entitlements—which can ultimately crater effective performance.

“Many characteristics once believed to reflect innate talent are actually the results of intense practice for a minimum of 10 years.”

grittiness—rather than IQ or standardized test scores—is the most accurate predictor of college grades.

Collins suggests four basic practices for creating a culture where self-motivation can flourish: “Lead with questions, not answers.” “Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion.” “Conduct autopsies, without blame.” “Build ‘red flag’ mechanisms.” In other words, make it easy for employees and customers to speak up when they identify a problem.