Need for intrinsic motivation
Recently I read Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink on my Amazon Kindle, and I believe this is among the best management books I have read so far. I want to summarize what I learned from the book. Genuine motivation has the following ingredients: autonomy, mastery, and purpose . Most people have the drive to accomplish more. During the industrial revolution of a century ago, rewards and punishments (carrot and stick) were seen as the only way to motivate people, but this may not be as relevant today. Rewards and punishments can even be counterproductive. Dangling a reward each time will make people more interested in it than the joy of accomplishing a task. A kid motivated with a prize for a drawing may lose interest in drawing after winning the prize, and it works similarly for adults. Companies must not rely on bonuses and awards for motivating employees. Wholistic feedback is more helpful than a reward. Rewards do not have any...