Why paying people more doesn't always get best results

What DRIVES You?

Dan Pink reveals it’s not what you might think

I met up last night with New York Times best selling author Dan Pink, whose latest book, Drive

launched this week in London, published by Canongate.

Dan is always a real treat to watch and listen to, and his talk at the RSA (www.thersa.org) on January 27th was no exception. Author of Free Agent Nation and  Whole New Mind, and dedicated to exploring new business paradigms, Dan now turns his attention to what motivates us, and exposes 40 years of research from top academic institutions that reveals some surprising results.

In essence, the ‘carrot and stick’ approach only works in certain circumstances and contexts – money as a motivator doesn’t necessarily produce better results. In fact, it can make them worse….

The book explores how, for higher level rather than mechanical tasks, we humans need a different set of motivators, summed up as Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Various companies (e.g. Google) who have used such ways of encouraging their staff have found great upsurges in creativity, the best ideas often emerging from unstructured or free time – with projects like Googlemail as exemplars.

Highly recommended read – and  you can find Dan here to find out more about his ideas. More to come about our conversation soon…