Overview

Rewards and punishments are failing us as motivators, declares Pink. Encouraging autonomy, mastery and purpose in personal and professional settings will lead to more productive, creative, and ultimately fulfilling lives.

Part One: A New Operating System

Chapter 1 questions the traditional view of human motivation that rewards pushing people to perform better and work harder. Pink explains that people have operating systems--the first, Motivation 1.0, is the biological drive to survive, and the second, Motivation 2.0 (M2), is driven by extrinsic motivators. Pink then describes organizations’ limited attempts to improve M2 by fostering environments for employees to grow and gain more autonomy. Pink describes how M2 is …show more content…

Chapter 4 investigates autonomy in the context of our desire to be self-directed in our work. The autonomic workplace is achieved through the Ressler-Thompson “results-only work environment” or “ROWE” strategy, where employees are allowed freedom in their tasks and work styles, entrusted to complete their work. Companies like Google demonstrate the efficacy of this management style. When the company initiated changes that allowed time for personal projects rather than a strict regimen of scheduling and task regulation, the result was highly innovative successes like Gmail and Google Translate. Autonomic management strategies also foster more workplace collaboration.

Chapter 5 examines our compulsion for mastery. In the science fields, sense of mastery is a long-known biological need for humans to control components of their lives; most notably, accomplishing something that matters. Many corporations unhealthily focus less on mastery and more on compliance, when they should genuinely empower employees to tackle complex problems congruent with their natural mastery needs. The latter tactics lead to productivity and work satisfaction, where workers maximize “workflow,” a state of mind where one is completely and positively enveloped in work. Pink defines this mastery as a