Book Review: Drive
As author
Daniel H. Pink states in the Introduction, the theme of his book Drive
is motivation.
In the first
part of his book, Pink identifies two basic societal operating systems or
drives. Motivation 1.0 consists of our
basic biological drives, such as seeking food and shelter for survival.
Motivation 2.0
is the extrinsic system of rewards and punishments (proverbial carrots and
sticks) that has dominated the world of business and commerce as well as
education since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Pink argues that this system is passé and
actually incompatible with psychology and current human enterprise: “Our
current operating system has become far less compatible with, and at times
downright antagonistic to: how we organize
what we do; how we think about what
we do; and how we do what we do.”
(20)
- How we organize what we do: Both open-source production (free services such as
Wikipedia) and for-benefit, as opposed to for-profit, organizations are
new business models that do not operate on traditional rewards systems.
- How
we think about what we do: People don’t always automatically
choose the occupation or path that grants them the greatest tangible
reward; instead, they do what they do “for significance-seeking,
self-actualizing reasons.” (26)
- How we do what we do: Rewards and punishments work as motivators for the completion of routine tasks but are ineffective and even counterproductive for motivating people to solve the difficult challenges of the modern workplace.
In Chapter 2, Pink identifies 7 reasons why rewards and punishments don’t work:
- They
have a negative impact on intrinsic motivation. Rewards create
what the author terms the Sawyer
Effect – “They can transform an interesting task into a drudge” (35)
because contingent (If-then) rewards create a loss of autonomy when it
comes to performance.
- They
can diminish performance. Several studies are presented as evidence of this.
- They can crush creativity. Contingent rewards narrow one’s focus in problem solving and stifle outside-the-box thinking.
- They
can crowd out good behavior. Rewards move the focus away from altruistic behavior.
- They
can encourage unethical behavior. “The problem with making an extrinsic reward the only
destination that matters is that some people will choose the quickest route
there, even if it means taking the low road” ie. cheating (49)
- They
can become addictive. “Rewards are addictive in that, once offered, a
contingent reward makes [you] expect it whenever a similar task is faced.”
(53)
- They can foster short-term thinking. Once you receive the reward, your learning ends.
In Part Two of Drive, Pink explores Motivation 3.0 – a “future-facing” operating system
powered by three intrinsic desires: autonomy,
mastery, and purpose.
The theme of Chapter 4 is autonomy. Pink argues that a
sense of autonomy has a powerfully positive effect on a person’s attitude and
performance. He is careful to define autonomy not as independence but rather as self-direction
or acting with choice. (88)
Pink believes that businesses should grant
employees autonomy over 4 aspects of work:
·
Task (what people do) An example is Atlassian’s FedEx Days – days set
aside 4 times a year during which employees can work on any project they wish,
but with the promise of delivering a contribution overnight.
·
Time (when people work) Flip the model of work from “putting in time”
to “getting results” (100) – a results-only work environment ROWE).
·
Technique (how people work) This involves giving employees “decision
latitude”. (100)
·
Team (whom people work with) “Research has shown that people working in
self-organized teams are more satisfied than those working in inherited teams.”
(104) Social networks make choice in
collaboration more possible.
The author
concludes the chapter on autonomy with a powerful statement: Motivation 3.0 “…
presumes that people want to be
accountable – and that making sure they have control over their task, their
time, their technique, and their team is the most effective pathway to that
destination.” (105)
Pink begins
Chapter 5 by connecting autonomy with
mastery: “Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads
to engagement” and “Only engagement can produce mastery.” (109) Mastery results when companies employ two
tactics. First, employees are assigned
what Pink calls Goldilocks tasks, “… challenges that are not too hot and not
too cold, neither overly difficult nor overly simple.” (116) When a task is too hard, it triggers anxiety;
when it’s too easy, boredom sets in.
However, when it’s a Goldilocks task, the result is flow (engagement)
Three laws of mastery are posited:
·
Mastery is a mindset – It requires an attitude that values continuous
learning;
·
Mastery is a pain - It requires one to have grit;
·
Mastery is an asymptote – You can get really close to it but never fully
realize it.
Chapter 6
opens with Pink’s assertion that “The most deeply motivated people … hitch
their desires to a cause larger than themselves.” (131) Hence, to be successful, a business must
place an emphasis on “purpose maximization”. (133) One strategy for this is to spend less time
on how to perform a particular task and more on why it is important. Another suggested strategy is allowing
employees to spend one day a week pursuing an aspect of their job that is most
meaningful to them. Lastly, “handing
employees control over how the organization gives back to the community” will
help them find meaning in their work. (140)
