I started reading the book, Drive, and I really like it so far. I haven’t even finished the book but I decided to review it anyway.
The book is about motivational systems and how intrinsic motivation is an overlooked but critical driver of our behavior. The book explains how motivational systems are used in business, and why the three aspects of intrinsic motivation – autonomy, mastery, and purpose – are important.
The next time I try to motivate myself to study with an extrinsic reward like shopping, going out, or eating junk food, I’m going to try one of the intrinsic motivations below:
- Autonomy – “I’ll choose to tackle this assignment using an alternative method rather than the way the TA did it”
- Mastery – “I can’t wait to feel accomplished once I make this CAD model – let me get started.”
- Purpose – “If I do well in this class, it could help me get the job I want down the road.”
Daniel Pink, the author, weaves history, psychology, neuroscience, and business into a tightly knit, easy-to-read book. Pink satisfies both the engineer and the writer in me; he provides good data from scientific experiments to support his points and tells a story that ties it all together.
I hesitate to read non-fiction because it can be dry, but when I readDrive, I feel like I’m reading fiction because the story flows so well.
Pink clearly has some background in computer science because he uses unusual metaphors, like comparing motivational systems to operating systems and talking about how to “upgrade” human thinking and behavior. Computer science nerds out there – enjoy!
Published on April 6th, 2016
Last updated on August 29th, 2017