Part I of II: Book Review- Drive by Daniel Pink
Back when I made the decision that my career path would be in IT, I made a concerted effort to make sure that my skills (and more importantly at the time – my resume) would be attractive enough to prospective employers that they would separate me from the pack. Perhaps they’d even pay a premium. The bottom line is that I viewed every completed project, IT Certification, or Degree not only as an investment that would eventually be paid off, but as a challenge in and of itself. As my career has transitioned from Engineer to Manager, one of the challenges I’ve encountered (as has anyone in any type of a Management role) is in pushing employees to improve their skills. Some just seem more driven than others. Some, who are just as talented, if not more, than others, just seemed lazy to me. Why is this? And what can I do to get these types to ‘see the light’?
In Drive: the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, author Daniel Pink offers compelling scientific and anecdotal evidence on Motivation, Drive, and how we can foster work environments that maximize these items. Here’s a brief summary:
The ‘evolution’ of Motivation is as follows:
- Motivation 1.0 is fueled by simple base instincts: the need to survive. Survival motivates mankind from the dawn of recorded history up until the mid-1800’s.
- The Industrial Revolution leads to Motivation 2.0 and the need to maximize profit. The hallmark of Motivation 2.0 is the classic ‘if – then’ reward structure. If I work X amount of hours then I will get paid Y; If my work on the assembly line is shoddy, then my punishment will be…., etc. Motivation 2.0 introduces the ‘Carrot and Stick’ method of management, and is largely still in use today. While this method proved effective in repetitive tasks of that day, such as an assembly line, it does not work, and is counterproductive, for tasks that call for innovation and creativity, which brings us to:
- Motivation 3.0 is the next stage in motivational evolution. The scientific data has been around for decades but application in business management practices is almost non-existent, with the exception of a few notable pioneers.
Motivation 3.0 dictates that people are not Type A and Type B personalities, rather Type X (those motivated purely by external factors, such as financial reward) and Type I (those motivated primarily by intrinsic factors, such as the joy in a job well-done).
That’s all for now. In the next installment, we’ll go into how Drive defines Type I motivation and conclude this review. Thanks, and see you next time!
