3 Review(s)

Published in the year 2011, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us is a book that provides the readers with key insights into motivation, citing the fallacies in the primitive carrot and stick technique, while explaining three fundamentals of true motivation. Summary Of The Book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us starts off by telling the readers that most people have the notion that money and other incentives are the best ways to motivate themselves and others. Employees force themselves to work, as they are lured by the cash bonus or corner office promised by their employers. Pink argues that this mindset is wrong and urges individuals to forget what they know about motivation at home, at school, or at work. Through the course of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Pink throws light on secrets to enable individuals to achieve excellence and satisfaction in this present-day world. He explains that the carrot and stick approach is outdated, citing the need for a relevant approach to get work done in the 21st century. Pink cites research studies that highlight the counter-productivity, which emerges from creating incentives. One of the research studies Pink cites, revolves around a “candle problem”, for which participants were given matches, a candle, and were required to fix the candle to the wall. He explains that those participants who were given money to do so, actually took longer to finish the task. Sam Glucksberg, the lead author of this research study concluded that the individuals who were offered money, were more focused on their reward, rather than the task at hand. Pink goes on to explain that human motivation is intrinsic in nature and then divides motivation into mastery, purpose, and autonomy, which he believes are the three fundamentals of true motivation. He explains that in these modern times, individuals and organizations achieve success by innovation and nimbleness, citing the requirement for individuals to derive intrinsic value in their work. He also delves on the incongruity between scientific evidence and actual business practices, and the way it impacts people’s lives. In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Pink also provides the readers with key techniques that they can incorporate to change the way they think and live. About Daniel H. Pink Daniel H. Pink is an author and speaker. Pink has written A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need, and Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself. Pink completed his schooling from Bexley High School, Bexley, Ohio. He then went to finish his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa and Truman Scholar. Pink then obtained his Law degree from the Yale Law School, serving as the chief editor of The Yale Law & Policy Review. He has written several articles on business and technology, which have been published in The New York Times, Wired, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company. Thinkers50 ranked Pink among the top 50 most-influential management thinkers worldwide in 2011. Pink has served as an aide to Robert Reich, the Secretary of Labor, from 1995 to 1997.