Drive

The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
by Daniel H. Pink | Riverhead Books © 2011 · 288 pages

Dan Pink is an incredibly engaging writer and this book is fantastic. In this book, he tackles human motivation and, as the sub-title suggests, tells us “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” Here’s his Twitter summary: “Carrots & sticks are so last century. Drive says for 21st century work, we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery & purpose.” Big Ideas we explore include understanding Motivation 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 along w/ how to upgrade our operating system, why Autonomy is so important, The Three Laws of Mastery and discovering our Purpose via a big question and a small one.


Science shows that the secret to high performance isn’t our biological drive or our reward-and-punishment drive, but our third drive—our deep-seated desire to direct our own lives, to extend and expand our abilities, and to live a life of purpose.
Daniel H. Pink

“This is a book about motivation. I will show that much of what we believe about the subject just isn’t so—and that the insights that Harlow and Deci began uncovering a few decades ago come much closer to the truth. The problem is that most businesses haven’t caught up to this new understanding of what motivates us. Too many organizations—not just companies, but governments and nonprofits as well—still operate from assumptions about human potential and individual performance that are outdated, unexamined, and rooted more in folklore than in science. …

The good news is that the solution stands before us—in the work of a band of behavioral scientists who have carried on the pioneering efforts of Harlow and Deci and whose quiet work over the last half-century offers us a more dynamic view of human motivation. For too long, there’s been a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. The goal of this book is to repair that breach.”

~ Daniel H. Pink from Drive

Dan Pink is an incredibly engaging writer and this book is fantastic.

He’s the best-selling author of A Whole New Mind and To Sell Is Human (need to do Notes on those as well).

In this book, he tackles human motivation and, as the sub-title suggests, tells us “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.”

Here’s his Twitter summary: “Carrots & sticks are so last century. Drive says for 21st century work, we need to upgrade to autonomy, mastery & purpose.”

The book is packed with great stories, great research and a ton of Big Ideas that can help you change your life—from how you lead and how you parent to how you live. I highly recommend it. (Get a copy here.)

I’m excited to share a few of my favorite Ideas we can apply to our lives today so let’s jump straight in!

Unlock this PhilosophersNote

Create your account to get more wisdom in less time. Personal development made simple so you can flourish in energy, work, and love. Today.

Sign Up Today

About the author

Authors

Daniel H. Pink

Author of several bestselling books about business, work, and behavior.