RSA Animate - Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us

This is an excerpt taken from a lecture given by Dan Pink at the RSA in 2010. In this animated video, Dan Pink lectures on the science and theory of "drive" as it relates to behaviour. He illustrates what motivates people at home and in the workplace and gives examples of incentivised performance in experimental tasks. He discusses findings that financial bonuses work for mechanical skills: the higher the reward the better the performance.  But the opposite is true of tasks calling for cognitive skill. Experiments show lower performance when there is financial incentive offered.

Attempts to repeat the experiment in a different cultural setting reinforced the results. The lecture claims that adequate payment for service is necessary to remove the issue of money, but better motivators for good performance and personal satisfaction in cognitive tasks are associated with autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

As described in the animation, engagement in the workplace is a result of self direction resulting from autonomy. Mastery is the urge to get better at skills. Purpose is the satisfaction of accomplishment - good service, good ideas that are recognised and provide the worker with satisfaction. Pink illustrates with examples from the information and communication technology field.