Friday, December 18, 2020

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Pink, Daniel H. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. 2009. 242p. ISBN 1594488843. Available at PROF 153.1 PIN on the library shelves.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

What motivates people? Science has studies motivation for decades, trying to determine what moves people forward in good and bad times. Many studies have focused on money and how it can be used to increase motivation, but results have pointed out that rewards like money do enhance motivation, but only up to a point. 

Motivation, it turns out, is intrinsically connected to the human desire to accomplish something self-driven and meaningful. It can be broken into three separate yet connected pieces that all work together to motivate an individual: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. This desire guides learning and self-management to achieve a goal, which then builds on itself towards another goal. Even in a less than motivating environment, being able to guide one's own work provides a level of satisfaction that money and other extrinsic rewards cannot.

Motivation remains elusive, but this book provides an excellent foundation to understand how businesses and institutions can develop the means to empower their employees to reach autonomy, gain mastery, and work towards a meaningful purpose.

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