Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by Daniel Pink

I plan to use my engineering knowledge with one of the major car companies and work to improve the safety of vehicles. Having been employed in manual labor, I know that there is an immense need for labor everywhere. Moreover, this labor does not require any significant mental capacity. Working at Teague was benefiting the company, but I did not feel like I was doing something impactful with my work. I was profiting the company but not fulfilling any of my dreams or aspirations. Recently, I read the book Drive by Daniel Pink. The novel explains that each human has three primary methods of motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. These are the three things I am searching for in a company. Autonomy, the ability to have some level of independence

Motivation often is classified as intrinsic or extrinsic. Students who are motivated intrinsically have an internal drive to succeed and a personal interest in the material. Students with extrinsic motivation engage in activities to obtain external incentives, such as grades or rewards (Sedden & Clark, 2016). Although, instructors note that intrinsic motivation is best for students, many

Of the many mini theories developed, intrinsic motivation plays a role in workplace situations I have personally experienced. Factors that encourage intrinsic motivation include challenge, curiosity, control, fantasy, competition, cooperation, and recognition. Intrinsic motivation challenges the way we learn, our purpose, interests, and meaning. Intrinsic motivation occurs when there is a generalized interest in a goal and it benefits us when the behavior to achieve the goal is self-imposed (Reeve, 2009).

Education today is too Type X- meaning the emphasis on greater rewards for doing what you should do anyways is based on extrinsic rewards. The education system seems to be heavily based on carrots and sticks. The biggest way to motivate someone seems to be by dangling something, such as a carrot, in front of someone 's face or poking them with a stick. If you want a student to do something, why are they motivated with some type of compensation such as an A in the class? In his book, Drive, Daniel H. Pink divides motivation into three categories that evolved over time- Motivation 1.0, 2.0, 3.0. using these theories to challenge this motivation of carrot and sticks.

Pink's take on self-determination theory and its affects on motivation are very captivating. We usually acknowledge only two drives that inspire action with the first being biological drive, which is intrinsic. The second drive, which has more to do with the business workplace than the biological drive, being material incentives, things such as salary and punishment; extrinsic motivators. Under this perception, work is considered agony and careful structures of incentives and disincentives are needed to control employee sluggishness. What Pink discusses in this book is that there is evidence of that third drive Harlow found during his research.

Motivation can be defined as the desire or inspiration to carry out specific tasks or to do something. Motivation is required when goals are being set and more so in their execution. In a work setting, motivation can be defined as a process through which individuals choose between alternative forms of behavior with the aim of achieving personal objectives. The goals sought by individuals can be extrinsic or relatively tangible such as monetary rewards and promotion, or intrinsic or intangible such as self esteem or job satisfaction (Armstrong, 2006). In learning, the desire to attain good grades is what motivates a student to study hard everyday as they prepare for the exam. On the other hand, for a teacher to put his best foot forward, he

While watching “The Puzzle of Motivation” by Dan Pink, I was very intrigued. Throughout the entire talk, there were several interesting points that were made. It really interested me when Pink talked about the group that was rewarded. Pink stated that if the contestants were in the top 25% of the fastest times, they would be rewarded five dollars. With this incentive, most would hope to do well, if not better than the person that would not be rewarded. Pink then goes on to point out the results. How much faster did the group that was offered a reward actually do? On average, it took them three and a half minutes longer. This really stood out to me because when offered a reward for a task, normally a person would be more motivated and thus do better. What amazed me even more was that this isn’t just a one time thing. This is has been replicated over and over for nearly 40 years. As Pink says around 04:33, “These contingent motivators -- if you do this, then you get that -- work in some circumstances. But for a lot of tasks, they actually either don 't work or, often, they do harm.” These rewards that are being offered are being used to attempt to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, but instead it’s proving to do the opposite. It’s proving to dull thinking and block creativity.

Motivation 2.0 is not working anymore because it does not combine with new businesses. Pink is showing how motivation 2.0 doesn’t work and arguing that we need to move to motivation 3.0. Motivation 2.0 responds to rewards and punishments (carrots and sticks). It is not compatible with how the businesses are organized on what we do, what we think and also what we do. Motivation 3.0 is where humans have to try to learn to be creative and to better the world. The external rewards and punishments are not working for heuristics, but are for algorithmic. To be able to solve any problems you need to depend on the intrinsic motivation is creativity.

Motivation is the number one driving force behind anything and everything an individual does each day. “Motivation is the desire to do the best possible job or to exert the maximum effort to perform an assigned task. Motivation energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior directed towards a goal.” (Honor, 2009). Motivation can determine the outcome of projects, goals, and can set limits on what an individual can obtain or what they believe they can obtain. Motivation often is the deciding factor on how successful a project in an organization is, and an individual’s needs and desires can both influence a person’s motivation greatly. Motivation can also determine how well an individual does in school, college, or university.

During the summer in June I finally went to worlds of fun. The trip there felt like the longest ride ever. We had five people in the car for three hours and it was June so it was a very hot day the day we drove up there. It was around 98 degrees outside and five people scrunched up in a car was bad. I could feel like droplets of sweat come from my head and drip down my face. I smelled the sweat in the car which just covered the entire car with funk. The windows in the car was rolled up and the A/C was on, and everyone was getting cranky. I could hear everyone in the car tossing back and forth trying to get comfortable but no one could. It was about as tight as a can of sardines.

Motivation and theories -------------------------- 2.1. Definition and theory framework ------------------------------------ Motivation can be described as the driving force of individual behaviour to fulfill needs or achieve goals. Mitchell defines motivation as 'the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours' (Mullins 2002:418). In terms of this definition, various theories have been developed around.

At the basis of motivation there are many factors that may not been seen right away. One must take a look at physiological reasons for motivation. How do we get students to their fullest potential? Abraham Maslow introduced the concept of self-actualization. This is the idea that we use our abilities to our fullest potential. If we can convince our students that they are capable of fulfilling their goals then they are on their way to self-efficacy. (Elliot, 2000 p.335). Self-actualization is the highest goal to reach in motivation. It is placed at the top of Maslow’s pyramid called the hierarchy of needs. This pyramid includes five needs that must be met before self-actualization can develop. The idea of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that if basic needs are not met, motivation cannot occur. The first need is physiological needs. These are things such as hunger and sleep. If these needs are not met, a student’s motivation is dominantly focused on these things. The next need up on the pyramid is safety needs. These needs

Daniel Pink makes a solid, science built point regarding motivation 3.0 in his book “Drive”. For the 21st century we are in need of more people that allow themselves to have autonomy, purpose and mastery in their life to become successful and achieve happiness in their careers. Able to look at my future career as a specialist instructor/teacher in a different point of view. After reading every chapter I was able to see how I can apply some of these methods to achieve my goals and also be happy in my career. Most of us look at our future and think we need to pick a career that can offer us a 6 digit yearly income, without realizing if that career will bring us happiness. Drive was able to make me realize when looking at my future career I

A theory that supports motivation is the self determination theory. In the self determination theory people need to grow and gain fulfillment by a drive in them. Self Determination is the process of deciding how to act on ones environment. When one is trying to overcome a challenge or encountering a new experience a person wants to gain the knowledge to succeed over the new challenge. When self determination theory is in focus internal factors are at play; a person is primarily focused on the need to gain knowledge or independence. There are three factors that contribute to a student’s self determination and the needs are linked to the student’s

What is motivation? What influences it? The term motivation can be defined in different ways. Motivation can simply defined as “ a need that, if high, is evident in a strong desire to achieve, to excel, to reach a high level of excellence” (Lefrancois 430). To become motivated, one must have a positive attitude to a variety of learning skills. Some factors that influence motivation include our peers, friends, parents, and environmental settings. Division four being high school division, attention is focused towards learning and what methods can be used. Students at this stage are more eager and develop a sense of what he or she wants to do and accomplish in upcoming adulthood. With a division comes a group of intelligent theorists. All