What Really Motivates Us?

A book called "Drive" by Dan Pink challenges us to rethink what really motivates us.

In a nutshell, simple mechanical tasks can be encouraged with rewards such as money. A factory worker who assembles items repeatedly may respond very positively to cash bonuses for quality or quantity goals achieved.

Yet, as tasks become more complex and require more cognitive thinking, rewards such as money have less and less  impact.  Knowledge workers seem to respond less to monetary incentives when solving problems or creating products. The rewards for these more sophisticated efforts are more intrinsic or even ethereal such as a sense of purpose or meaning.

Go figure. Maybe that explains blogging?

John Bradley Jackson

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