Dan Pink presents to packed house at NeoCon

Dan Pink gave a keynote at NeoCon to promote his forthcoming book, Drive.

His talk was all about what motivates us. His central thesis is that the evolution of motivation is biological > extrinsic (reward/punishment) > intrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is when “the performance of a task is it’s own reward”. Or as our CEO Jim Haudan would say, “people like to solve their own puzzles”.

Pink cites scientific studies that support the claim that extrinsic motivation crushes creative problem solving. The nature of the work that we do, which is increasingly non-routine, artistic, empathic big-picture work, requires that we be intrinsically motivated to achieve results.

He lists the elements of intrinsic motivation as autonomy, mastery, purpose. Something that particularly resonated with me are the elements of autonomy. His definition of autonomy is when you have control over your task, technique, time, and team. He cites Charles and Ray Eames as one example of an autonomous creative team. The success and profundity of their work lies within their ability to achieve complete creative excellence through an environment of autonomy, mastery of skills and the guiding light of purpose.