Leading with Intrinsic Motivators, a Ted Talk by Dan Pink

Dan Pink, from his Ted Talk:

Traditional management techniques are great for COMPLIANCE. If you want engagement, self-direction works better. Focus on autonomy, mastery, and purpose instead.

For those that lead others, Dan Pink provides a concise summary of how to enable better creative problem solving by enabling intrinsic motivation, as opposed to the traditional focus on extrinsic (external) rewards. Here's a summary of his Ted Talk key takeaways. I highly recommend the 18 minute watch linked at the end of the article.

Laws of Motivational Science

There's a mismatch of what Science knows and what business does. The laws:

1. Standard 20th century motivations work, but only in a narrow band of circumstances

2. "If then rewards" often destroy creativity

3. Secret to high performance isn't rewards and punishment, but that unseen intrinsic drive to do things for their own sake (autonomy, mastery) and because they matter (purpose)

The Candle Problem

In the talk, Dan explains the difference between simple and creative problem solving in the framing of psychologist Karl Duncker's Candle Problem experiment.

Candle Problem Images Source: Dan Pink Ted Talk Presentation Slides

The Scientific Proof

In case you need the scientific proof from multiple studies, Dan supplies some of that too. An excerpt from the Ariely study:

As long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance. But once the task called for "even rudimentary cognitive skill," a larger reward "led to poorer performance.†

Continued Learning

A great resource to diver deeper into the full intrinsic motivational stack to achieve things you thought were impossible is Steven Kotler's The Art of Impossible.

† D. ARIELY, U. GNEEZY, G. LOWENSTEIN, & N. MAZAR, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Working Paper No. 05-11, July 2005, Ny Times, 20 Nov. 08

Changing Defaults | The Sweet Setup

Mike Schmidt at The Sweet Setup:

The key question to ask is this: Can I honestly say I am acting with intentionality right now?

This is another great primer to understand your default mode and how to question why you do the things you do.

This is Water by David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace:

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

David’s 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College is a beautifully written summary of a simple method to be a better person. He reminds the graduating class to fight our default mode that we are the center of the universe. He has many other lessons as well.

The whole trick is keeping this truth up front in consciousness within daily life. He begs us to use empathy everywhere we’re ripe for frustration. We should pause, fight our default mode, so we can judge less and instead ponder the other person’s situation. It’s likely they have a valid reason for their actions or is going through something we can’t comprehend.

It’s a call for patience, grace, and understanding. Something we can all strive for more of. It’s a reminder to choose intentionality and remember how to think instead of living an unconscious existence.

Come for the wisdom, but you’ll at minimum get an example of masterful prose. I suggest you listen to it on a regular interval to keep it front-of-mind. I have a recurring to-do list item so that I listen every couple of months so that I remember how I’m supposed to think.

Thank you, David.