Drive

The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us

By: Daniel H. Pink

Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink

Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

A book that will change how you think and transform how you live.

Forget everything you thought you knew about how to motivate people – at work, at school, at home. It is wrong. As Daniel H. Pink explains in his paradigm-shattering book Drive, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today’s world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and the world. Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation, and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.

©2011 Daniel H Pink (P)2011 Canongate

This should become required reading

I have been in management and leadership for many years and struggled with it. This book explained why. This book is a summary of many years of research about what truly motivates humans -- hint: it isn't more money!! The book also teaches how to apply the results of these findings. This book is a must read for anyone who wants truly motivate a team and create exponential productivity.

Good content, narrator not so great

I like this book but the way the narrator talks sucks the life out of it. For a book called Drive you'd think he'd have more emotion in talking. It makes it a bit hard to stay engaged and want to listen to it.

Groundbreaking ideas

A very good book, shares some groundbreaking ideas. The author read it well. It wasn’t the most exciting page turner I’ve ever read, but it is definitely an important book. I like how the authors includes several additional resources for further reading and learning.

Best Productivity Book I've Ever Read

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes this is number one on my list when someone asks me for a book recommendation. It will change how you manage your team and your work life. My productivity increased significantly, yet I enjoy my job more. That's like hearing you can lose weight and eat all the cake you want. I have such a happy work environment now. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to look forward to going in to work. I recommend this to anyone who is willing to take a risk on being fulfilled at work.

What other book might you compare Drive to and why?

The Willpower Instinct by Kelly Mcgonigal, and Habit by Charles Duhigg.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Drive?

You will read this and then you will think, my company wont implement these strategies or be willing to give it a try. Really? 2 hours a week spent on personal projects and another 2 on learning skills related to the job? Well, I implemented these, and we now finish more projects, faster, with greater success when implemented. That's right. The 2 hours a week learning, means that my team is always on the forefront of digital marketing. The 2 hours spent on the personal project means that their ideas have voices. They feel like contributing to the company as a whole. Loyalty, team bonding all of that happens. Gosh, this book is fantastic. Give it a try if you are a dissatisfied employee or a manager at her wits end.

Nice Twist.

A lot of regurgitated info, but gives plenty of credit to the sources - all while providing good insight into the shortsightedness of money-driven motivation. Dollars aren't the best long-term motivator, and intrinsic motivation trumps extrinsic in many cases. There are also some fantastic business stories about how companies took different approaches to motivate workers. Good stuff and a quick read.

no index

again like most resellers it has no index except 15 laws of growth, becoming a person of influence, 8th habit. Mr Pink how can I allow Amazon to publish your audiobook without a proper outline

Great insight...

well written and hard to let go of. Mr Pink gives us great insight into how we are motivated and what to do to trigger it, have started applying it and I m clearly a type I who will look at making it a part of the culture of my work place ...

I will be listening to this again

I have enjoyed this for the second time. this time on double speed and still comes across as personable. I would strongly recommend the for folks who just have a genera LM interest in motivation as a spring board into the subject.

very good read especially last few chapters

I loved the baby boomers quest for autonomy and the fact lure of Maserty is both painful and pleasurable

Fantastic insight into what makes us tick

Loved this audiobook and the connection with many other great authors. Dan pinks reading was exceptional and the concepts presented well worth the listen.

Good insight, makes you think

Delivered by the author with a strident style, this book made me think about motivation and how I might apply some ideas in the workplace. There are some sweeping assertions in the book, and a few logical leaps, but the main points are well argued and compelling. Well worth a listen.

Essential motivational theory reading

Absolutely brilliant! A must for anyone interested in motivational theory. Pink et al review the previous research behind motivational theory ('sticks and carrots') and demonstrate why this is no longer appropriate for changes in the type of work that our society and business now needs and can, in many circumstances, result in poorer performance. The authors then review the research base over the last ten years, pointing to three main factors (autonomy, mastery and purpose) that research has demonstrated effect type I (intrinsic) motivation, with examples from business. The authors helpfully suggest some techniques you might employ in yuour own organisation to tap into type I motivation.

TOC

Book TOC:

Part One - A New Operating System

CHAPTER 1 - The Rise and Fall of Motivation 2.0
CHAPTER 2 - Seven Reasons Carrots and Sticks (Often) Don’t Work . . .
CHAPTER 2A - . . . and the Special Circumstances When They Do
CHAPTER 3 - Type I and Type X


Part Two - The Three Elements

CHAPTER 4 - Autonomy
CHAPTER 5 - Mastery
CHAPTER 6 - Purpose

Part Three - The Type I Toolkit

Type I for Individuals: Nine Strategies for Awakening Your Motivation
Type I for Organizations: Nine Ways to Improve Your Company, Office, or Group
The Zen of Compensation: Paying People the Type I Way
Type I for Parents and Educators: Nine Ideas for Helping Our Kids
The Type I Reading List: Fifteen Essential Books
Listen to the Gurus: Six Business Thinkers Who Get It
The Type I Fitness Plan: Four Tips for Getting (and Staying) Motivated to Exercise
Drive: The Recap
Drive: The Glossary
The Drive Discussion Guide: Twenty Conversation Starters to Keep You Thinking ...

FIND OUT MORE—ABOUT YOURSELF AND THIS TOPIC

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Review:

Common motivators
Usual motivators are reward and punishment. Carrot and the stick.

Research results
Money as a drive works on tasks based on process/protocol (step 1,2,3...complete).
Once the task involves higher than rudimentary cognitive skills, extra money as reward not only doesn't increase but it lowers performance.

Whereas for stepped tasks the blinkers focus the worker. The person's attention is now on the money, not the task they need to find a solution for. The blinkers become a total enemy of creative problem solving.


Commitment and bonds
Childcare centre has some parents running late so imposes fines after 10 minutes late. The rate of lateness doubles. Parents no longer see not getting to the centre on time as breaking the bond with their kids carer, not being nice. Instead its a purely financial transaction, something else to buy.


Enter the game of autonomy and challenge
At Attlassian, their entitled "FEDEX days", the company gives employees a 24 hour challenge. Employees can do what they like, however they like, with whoever they like. Only requirement is next day they present it over drinks, cake and pizza.

Redgate, scrapped sales bonuses. Instead they pay people a fair sum. Full attention on the task/job.

Zappos, call centre, revamped how a call centre is run. Usually staff turnover of 100% on year on year (like a lightbulb2). Zappos instead of timing/automatising/scripting their staff's response, offered money for new trainees to leave if they wished, then gave staff autonomy to resolve customer issues. They ended up with the highest ratings of customer satisfaction. (Supposition is increase of staff autonomy and sense of belonging and importance)


Freeware/Wikipedia - based on people's donations of time and effort. Sometimes considerable compared to people's existing day jobs, and they are doing same or more effort on their limited discretionary time, for free.

Google 20%. Many of their great ideas is a product from Google's freedom to allow their staff to work on their own project 20% of their work time. E.g. GMail, Google News.


Key points from the research, people want:

Crude incentives negatively affect performance
Autonomy, self-direction, augments the sense of self worth and fosters progress,
Collaboration, Game (3. is personal thoughts)
Challenge and Mastery,
Purpose.


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Why do I do what I do?

A short book on how motivation for work has changed over time and what you can do to leverage that drive in your favour. Daniel Pink is a competent narrator and knows his subject matter, delivered in an easy going style. The book is structured so that the ideas that are introduced can be acted upon. There are some bullet point action lists, quick recaps of chapters and well stocked list on further reading books.

I enjoyed it and hope to test the section that applies to personal career development, bringing up intrinsically motivated kids and some further reading particularly Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Fantastic Listen!

I heard about Dan Pink at work via a Ted Talk on Youtube. That talk appears to be a summation of his book. His theories on motivation are explained in very easy to understand terms, using very well described examples and studies. It's a great tale of what can and does motivate us and why we're driven (or not) to do achieve or act. He consistently pushes home reasons why the carrot and stick approach only works for so long and why it works for some people and not others. He cites examples of how organisations benefit from making use of this understanding, often inherently, with how they treat their staff. Autonomy and mastery or two areas he keeps highlighting as the new way to generate motivation within companies, groups and organisations. An excellent listen.

Short-term inspiration

I enjoyed listening to Daniel H Pink on my drive to work and found the audiobook to be motivational while I was listening to it. However his inspiration has worn off somewhat a few weeks later. There were some interesting insights in there and I’m sure my approach to life has changed since listening to the book. Great to have the author narrating his own work. I'll certainly be listening to it again.

Facinating and mind bending in a good way

I have almost finished this book. It keeps pushing idea's and probable thruths into my mind and in a very easy and likeable way. My perspective was to find some better motivation for my work. It certainly fulfilled my needs.

Interesting story on motivational theory but..

Interesting story on motivational theory but I found the speed of narration too fast in some places especially when introducing new terminologies, names etc. I also feel that the structure could be improved by stating what the conclusions of a line of thinking are before going on a supportive narrative. As an audio book it's more difficult to return exactly to a previous location so more sign posting in the text would help.

Convincing central thesis; overly long

The author's central thesis about motivation in the contemporary work place is interesting and convincing. However, the final chapters of the audiobook are superfluous, comprising a bibliography, a glossary, and an unnecessarily detailed summary.

poor

there's about a chapter worth of material here. very much from the point of view of getting people to do stuff. doesn't really expand to personal drive. repeatedly quotes fast magazine and experiments I've heard about many times prior. the last 40 minutes are particularly bad. uninspiring, with little substance.