Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Daniel Pink on Creativity

I love Daniel Pink's views. He studies the science of the mind.

According to Pink "We all have an intuitive sense of what motivates people. Reward behavior and get more - punish and we get less of it." But when scientifically tested, this was not true except on the most mundane of simple mechanical tasks. If the job involved any thinking or creativity, it does not work.

Constraints kill creativity. The creativity is "no longer that of the artist". The moral is have less constraints.

True creativity: The ability to give someone something they did not know they were missing. An example of this might be a Blackberry before they existed. This is the greatest value that can be added.

Could it be that $ are not really a reward? According to Pink, you need to pay enough but that alone does not provide motivation.

The big 3 motivators - Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. This is what is needed for enduring motivation.

Autonomy is about self direction. The irony is "management" often gets in the way by over-controlling. Good management is about high standards, fairness and autonomy. Autonomy over time, tasks, team, and technique (how you do the job). This is what counts.

Mastery is the skill to do the job exceptionally. This is a balance between challenge and learned ability. Part of this comes from following natural interest. Good days are those where they made progress. So make feedback fast (like almost daily).

Purpose is the feeling that what you do is worthwhile.

@danielpink says "Carrots and sticks are so last century. For todays challenges and for true innovation, think autonomy, mastery and purpose." #WIF11




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