In Dan Pink’s latest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Dan uses four decades of scientific research on human motivation to expose the mismatch between what science knows and what business does.


Dan argues that we as humans are naturally active and engaged - it’s our “default setting” as he says. Based on this premise and the reality that in today’s economy, creativity and innovation drive business success, Dan introduces the concept of Motivation 3.0. Motivation 3.0 looks beyond rewards and punishments as the sole driver of engagement. Motivation 3.0 is built on three elements that if satisfied, drive peak performance and fulfillment. These three elements are autonomy, mastery and purpose. Here is a brief overview of these three elements:

Autonomy

The ability to be self-directed has a great effect on performance and attitude. Smart managers empower their employees to be creative and innovative. Dan gives the example of Atlassian, an Australian software development company that fosters innovation with “FedEx Days”. Once a quarter, the company allows their developers one full day to work on new projects and ideas. The developers present their results following day – thus delivering something in 24 hours, just like FedEx.

Mastery

Why do we want to get better at things? Because it feels good! When companies can help employees see their own progress by recognizing and celebrating achievements, employees become highly engaged and driven to pursue their goals.

This is where recognition comes into play. Dan believes that recognition, “serves as a form of feedback, which is essential to achieving mastery”. Feedback gives your employees a sense of how they are progressing and encourages them always think about how to innovate, create and improve. For some best practices and tips on giving recognition read, I Resolve to Recognize - our call for more recognition in the workplace in 2010.

Purpose

Autonomous employees striving for mastery are highly productive, but when you give them the sense of working for something greater than themselves, you inspire peak performance! Successful companies are those who can help their employees strive for purpose and align the organization’s purpose with that of the individuals. For a great article on how to motivate employees, including providing purpose read Harvard Management ‘s, Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation.

For more on what motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter, visit http://www.danpink.com/drive or view Dan’s Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) presentation – The surprising science of motivation: Dan Pink on TED.com