Drive Part 2 of 7: Getting Beyond Motivation 2.0
May 26, 2010 by dr. lam · 3 Comments
In 1995, if you asked a far-sighted economist to bet on one of two upcoming encyclopedias, Microsoft’s Encarta or Wikipedia, which would he bet on? Encarta would be a masterful CD that would be developed by the all-powerful Microsoft Corporation to replace the outdated Encyclopedia Britannica. Wikipedia would be created by novices who gave their time freely with no compensation to write articles on a vast array of topics. Of course, most economists would bet that in 2010 Microsoft would own the market and Wikipedia would be a blip or gone by then. How wrong would they be?
Wikipedia thrives on individuals who do what they do because they love doing it not because they get paid doing it. Motivation 1.0 describes ancient man’s motivation of pure survival. What dominated throughout most of the twentieth century is Motivation 2.0 that describes a series of carrots and sticks to stimulate behavioral changes in others. Pink is calling for a new Motivation upgrade that is based on intrinsic meaning rather than extrinsic rewards.
He sets apart two types of work: algorithmic and heuristic. Algorithmic work describes a set protocol to perform a duty that will lead down a single pathway until the job is completed. Heuristic work involves creating your own pathway to find out the best solution or perhaps even what an appropriate solution should be. He encourages people to try to find the heuristic elements in work that can make work inspiring, fun, and motivational. How can you make your work more heuristic?
Drive Part 1 of 7: Harry Harlow & His Monkeys
May 25, 2010 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
In 2007, I received Daniel Pink’s first book, A Whole New Mind, from my cousin Yolanda who thought of me when she bought it . I devoured it on the plane ride back from Hong Kong. Pink’s thesis of his other book was that right-brained individuals, those who are more gifted creatively, would lead the world over those who were left-brain dominant, i.e., analytical and mathematical. I am more right-brained as an individual, so of course I agree with the thesis. Pink argued that left-brain work has been continuously outsourced to other countries where right-brain work simply cannot.
In his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us, Pink investigates another paradigm-shifting idea, that we are intrinsically motivated by purpose rather than by direct rewards for money, etc. I wholeheartedly agree. We will investigate his ideas in greater detail over this blog series.
Pink opens his book with an experiment by the famous Harry Harlow (whom we have discussed directly and indirectly before in other blog series). In the 1940s, Harlow, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin, evaluated eight rhesus monkeys over a period of 14 days using a simple contraption placed inside their steel cages. What would be deemed simple for a human may be maddeningly complex for a primate: the puzzle involved a pin that required removing, followed by a latch that needed unlatching, and finally a hinge that needed lifting.
Over a period of 14 days, the monkeys got better and better at the task, completing it in less than 60 seconds by the end of the observation period. What was amazing was that the monkeys were provided no material reward for their efforts: no food, applause, etc. Further, the monkeys’ faces seemed to communicate fascination, focus, and enjoyment. Harlow concluded that the “The performance of the task provided intrinsic reward.”
Pink talks about how many individuals and companies are focused on an “if-then” proposition: if you do this, I will reward you this way. Instead, the effort should be at providing meaning to the individual to attain optimal reward through the task itself.