Book: Drive, by Daniel H. Pink

"If you set a goal of becoming an expert in your business, you would immediately start doing all kinds of things you don't do now." ~Geoff Colvin

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Drive, by Daniel H. Pink [Read Tuesday 12/29/2009]

Summary: Traditional ways of thinking about motivation as dangling an award in front of a person to entice them to behave a certain way is inaccurate of how humans truly flourish. While the carrot stick way of "if [you do this task/achieve x] then [you will receive y]" model of motivation often works in the short term and for immediate results, in the long term, those who achieve lasting results are intrinsically motivated, which Pink typecasts as Type I personalities. Pink presents interesting case studies to demonstrate these points, and also writes about how to create a positive Type I environment to encourage these types of behaviors in yourself and others. Citing companies such as Google where employees are given control over their own time and are encouraged to take time to explore and develop ideas they find interesting (such as Gmail and Google calendar), Pink claims that people work best when they are given AUTONOMY, leading to MASTERY, and finally to developing a sense of PURPOSE, all of which gives a person meaning and motivation for fulfilling and rewarding life and achievements.

"Effort is one of the things that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it." ~Carol Dweck p.125

"Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them." ~Julius Erneg (sp?) p.125

"In the end, mastery attracts precisely because mastery eludes." p.127

On why people stop learning and working through play--"you start to get ashamed that what you're doing is childish." Once again an interesting divide between childhood and adulthood; is it somehow more grown-up to experience pain/suffer and not have fun? Notion: we love to hate those who love their work; true or false? p.130

The MBA Oath (post 2008 Wall Street crash) by HBS students
"As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater good by bringing people and resources together to create value that no single individual can create alone." p.138

"A central idea of this book has been the mismatch between what science knows and what business does. The gap is wide." p.145

"We're designed to be active and engaged." p.146

"One cannot lead a life that is truly excellent without feeling that one belongs to something greater and more permanent than oneself." ~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - an interesting researcher of psychology and human behavior - p.146?

"As anyone who's trained for a marthon, learned a new language, or run a successful division can attest, you spend a lot more time granding through tasks than you do basking in applause." p.155
Similar concept to "A lot of people keep looking for shortcuts. This *is* the shortcut." (Armin)

"Was I better today than yesterday?" p.156

"Reminding yourself that you don't need to be a master by day 3 is the best way of ensuring you will be one by day 300." p.156

Taking a Sagmeister--a unique way of thinking about taking time off, a year to explore and learn: life is for most people broken down into 25 years of learning + 40 years of working + 25 years of retirment. "Why not snip five years from retirement and sprinkle them into your working years?" p.156

Deliberate practising = improvement. (Deliberate living = conviction?)