‘Drive’ teaches us how to find motivation at work for a more fulfilling life

Daniel Pink’s remarkable book “Drive, The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” has some powerful career lessons for individuals looking to find work motivation as well as for organisations planning initiatives to boost employee morale.

In many organisations, the idea of rewards stems from a sense of extrinsic motivation. The author, an American author who has also worked in politics and economic policy, says that a traditional carrot-and-stick approach may not always work. Be it performance management, incentive planning or goal setting, as organisations get more complex with multigenerational employees, there is a need to think deeper about motivation levels. Similarly, for employees, who now face longer lives and careers, the motivation to work has to be clear. And it is not always a monetary reward that motivates everyone.

In fact, the author differentiates between externally motivated people, Type X, and more intrinsically motivated people, Type I.


So how can one find the triggers for such intrinsic motivation and take the right action, both individually and organisationally?

Individual and organisational actions

The author says there are three key elements of intrinsic motivation. First is autonomy. For some people, autonomy over time and work is a great motivator. It is a reason many qualified professionals decide to become freelancers.

Can companies do anything to further this motivation? For example, Google had enabled a system where people could work for about 20% of their time on projects that they are passionate about. This can further the intrinsic motivation of a person and result in innovations that could be valuable for the company.

Second is the desire to improve one’s skills. The need to keep learning is a very powerful motivator for some. While such individuals will keep learning on their own and trying to explore new avenues to express their knowledge and creativity, organisations can also play a role in enabling training programmes that can connect with this motivational need.

The third powerful motivator is purpose and meaning. Purpose-driven work often makes people happy. Helping people get the right education or access to health or sanitation or financial inclusion, among others, can therefore be extremely motivating for such people.

It is also a reason why some people choose to work with social sector organisations, and why some shift from a corporate role to a role where one can align more clearly with the purpose. Finding elements of one’s role within the corporate structure can deepen the feeling of purpose. Organisations enable this in different ways — from enabling these inputs for engagement initiatives to inviting support from interested employees in corporate social responsibility activities.

Overall, by imbibing lessons from the book, both individuals and companies can plan their career actions based on their motivation triggers.