Drive by Daniel Pink

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) 

1. 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.
2.  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)
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. They can diminish performance.  Several studies are presented as evidence of this.
3. They can crush creativity.  Contingent rewards narrow one’s focus in problem solving and stifle outside-the-box thinking.
4. They can crowd out good behavior.  Rewards move the focus away from altruistic behavior.
5. 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)
6. 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)
7. They can foster short-term thinking.  Once you receive the reward, your learning ends.

Pink acknowledges though that there are some occasions when rewards and punishments do work.  First, rewards do work as “healthy baselines” – that is, as perceived “adequate and fair” compensations in the forms of wages, salaries, and benefits. (58)   As well, rewards can be motivating for routine tasks that are neither particularly interesting nor require creative thinking.  The author suggests though that extrinsic rewards will work more effectively as motivators if they are offered only after the task is complete – that is, are viewed as now that as opposed to if-then. (64) 

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)