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product_id: 286366
title: "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us"
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# Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us [Pink, Daniel H.] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Review: Great insights for motivating employees-- or yourself. - Why are lawyers so miserable? Surveys like this one from the American Bar Association [...] consistently show that, despite having relatively prestigious and lucrative careers, lawyers are less happy with their jobs than many other professionals. Why is that? Is it the long hours? The burden of student loans carried over from law school? The endless lawyer jokes? In Drive, Daniel Pink argues that they're unhappy because they lack the right motivation. A good salary is a start, but human being require other stimuli in order to thrive in the long run. Lawyers, especially junior associates at big firms, have relatively little control over their work and face strict demands on how much time they need to bill every day, week, month and year. Young lawyers find themselves dissatisfied with their careers because they find they don't get to choose work that they find interesting or rewarding. Assignments are handed to them by partners and they have to make do with whatever they can get. So instead of facing-off in court against Perry Mason, Ally McBeal or Patty Hewes (pick your generation), they wind up working on an assembly line cranking out billable hours. What lawyers are missing is a sense of autonomy-- one of the three factors that Pink argues are crucial for motivating the 21st Century workforce. I'm not going to summarize the whole book since Pink does such a good job himself. Here's the "Cocktail Party" summary from the toolkit he provides as an appendix: When it comes to motivation, there's a gap between what science knows and what business does. Our current business operating system-- which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators-- doesn't work and often does harm. We need an upgrade. And the science shows the way. This new approach has three essential elements: (1) Autonomy-- the desire to direct our own lives; (2) Mastery-- the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and (3) Purpose-- the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. I admire how Pink keeps his thesis simple enough that it's easy to understand and recall (having 3 main points is key) while backing up his ideas with anecdotes from business and scientific studies. And the "cocktail party" summary is something many writers should adopt. If nothing else, it might help some of them focus on what it is that they really have to say. Don't let Pink's use of science turn you off-- it's covered quickly and written about in a clear manner that makes it palatable for all kinds of readers. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the idea of what motivates people. You don't have to be a "business person" to find something valuable here. If you feel stifled in your own job, Drive might help you find a way to make it more rewarding-- or help you make the decision that it's time to do something else. It also has suggestions on how to motivate your kids to do their chores, how to lose weight in ways that are more likely to work in the long run, and how to reform our educational system so that kids can motivate themselves. But I'd mostly just recommend Drive for its insights into what makes us happy-- and what doesn't.
Review: The Drive to Thrive - Carrots and sticks are so 20th century. We need to understand the drive to thrive in the 21st century. That's my twitter summary of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. Summary There is a great disconnect between what we practice in business - and I will add, in life - and what science is telling us in the area of motivation. The current model of motivation is carrots or sticks, money or termination. If-then rewards actually extinguish intrinsic motivation and diminish performance, crush creativity, and reduce good behavior. They also motivate people into behavior we do not want to see happen: unethical behavior, additions, and short-term thinking. While carrots and sticks are not the best motivators, they are not all bad, however. They can be effective for rule-based routine tasks that are not very interesting and do not demand much creative thinking, though their motivation is minimal. Science, however, shows us that we need to upgrade our operating system to motivation 3.0. The new OS has three essential elements: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy "involves behaving with a full sense of volition and choice." Motivation is different from independence. It is not the go-it-alone individualism of the American West. It means acting with a choice, meaning we can be both autonomous and happily interdependent with others. And more importantly, this is a human concept, not a Western one. Autonomy has a powerful effect on performance. It promotes great conceptual understanding, better grades, enhanced persistence at school and in sporting activities, higher productivity, less burnout, and greater levels of psychological well-being. In addition, autonomous people impact the workplace. A study by Cornell University demonstrated that businesses that offered autonomy grew at four times the rate of non-autonomous businesses and had one-third the turnover. The opposite of autonomy is control. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement. Engagement leads to mastery, the desire to get better at something that matters. For the tasks of the 21st century, an inquiring mind and willingness to experiment to find a fresh solution is required. That means the ability to have autonomy over our tasks, techniques, team, and time. This all works to allow people to be engaged in their tasks and to master them. Autonomous people working toward mastery perform at very high levels. But those who do so in the service of some greater objective can achieve even more. The most deeply motivated people connect their desires to a cause larger than themselves. Thoughts I really enjoy the writings of Daniel Pink. He assembles complicated research and makes it accessible to the masses. I appreciate how Pink makes the research in the areas of motivation easy for those who are not scientists to understand. In fact, in Drive, he does a magnificent job. Much of the background for this book comes from the research of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College. He is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology. I do a lot of church planter assessments and one of the things we look for is intrinsic motivation. This allows us to see what will keep them going when things get tough. It also allows us to determine if money is a primary motivator. Drive provides us with the research behind the importance of this needed tool for church planting. And for ministry in the 21st century as well. Drive is also a marker for entrepreneurial ministry. And entrepreneurialism in general. The book is easy to read despite its topic. It makes good use of emerging research. But it's a very practical book as well. At the end of the book, Pink provides a toolkit. In it, he provides strategies for awakening motivation for individuals, parents, educators, and businesses. He provides a great reading list of 15 essential books to encourage and promote a healthy environment for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He also provides a discussion guide to get the discussion started. This is a fabulous book, and will be effective for leaders and followers alike. Whether you are a pastor, small group leader, or business person, this will help motivate those you lead and even help you understand yourself better.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #8,126 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #59 in Leadership & Motivation #85 in Motivational Management & Leadership #219 in Success Self-Help |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (9,259) |
| Dimensions  | 5.94 x 0.61 x 8.98 inches |
| ISBN-10  | 1594484805 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1594484803 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 288 pages |
| Publication date  | April 5, 2011 |
| Publisher  | Riverhead Books |

## Images

![Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51km6RPOvYL.jpg)
![Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZrgAu99RL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great insights for motivating employees-- or yourself.
*by C***R on April 4, 2010*

Why are lawyers so miserable? Surveys like this one from the American Bar Association [...] consistently show that, despite having relatively prestigious and lucrative careers, lawyers are less happy with their jobs than many other professionals. Why is that? Is it the long hours? The burden of student loans carried over from law school? The endless lawyer jokes? In Drive, Daniel Pink argues that they're unhappy because they lack the right motivation. A good salary is a start, but human being require other stimuli in order to thrive in the long run. Lawyers, especially junior associates at big firms, have relatively little control over their work and face strict demands on how much time they need to bill every day, week, month and year. Young lawyers find themselves dissatisfied with their careers because they find they don't get to choose work that they find interesting or rewarding. Assignments are handed to them by partners and they have to make do with whatever they can get. So instead of facing-off in court against Perry Mason, Ally McBeal or Patty Hewes (pick your generation), they wind up working on an assembly line cranking out billable hours. What lawyers are missing is a sense of autonomy-- one of the three factors that Pink argues are crucial for motivating the 21st Century workforce. I'm not going to summarize the whole book since Pink does such a good job himself. Here's the "Cocktail Party" summary from the toolkit he provides as an appendix: When it comes to motivation, there's a gap between what science knows and what business does. Our current business operating system-- which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators-- doesn't work and often does harm. We need an upgrade. And the science shows the way. This new approach has three essential elements: (1) Autonomy-- the desire to direct our own lives; (2) Mastery-- the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and (3) Purpose-- the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. I admire how Pink keeps his thesis simple enough that it's easy to understand and recall (having 3 main points is key) while backing up his ideas with anecdotes from business and scientific studies. And the "cocktail party" summary is something many writers should adopt. If nothing else, it might help some of them focus on what it is that they really have to say. Don't let Pink's use of science turn you off-- it's covered quickly and written about in a clear manner that makes it palatable for all kinds of readers. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the idea of what motivates people. You don't have to be a "business person" to find something valuable here. If you feel stifled in your own job, Drive might help you find a way to make it more rewarding-- or help you make the decision that it's time to do something else. It also has suggestions on how to motivate your kids to do their chores, how to lose weight in ways that are more likely to work in the long run, and how to reform our educational system so that kids can motivate themselves. But I'd mostly just recommend Drive for its insights into what makes us happy-- and what doesn't.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Drive to Thrive
*by D***S on August 4, 2010*

Carrots and sticks are so 20th century. We need to understand the drive to thrive in the 21st century. That's my twitter summary of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. Summary There is a great disconnect between what we practice in business - and I will add, in life - and what science is telling us in the area of motivation. The current model of motivation is carrots or sticks, money or termination. If-then rewards actually extinguish intrinsic motivation and diminish performance, crush creativity, and reduce good behavior. They also motivate people into behavior we do not want to see happen: unethical behavior, additions, and short-term thinking. While carrots and sticks are not the best motivators, they are not all bad, however. They can be effective for rule-based routine tasks that are not very interesting and do not demand much creative thinking, though their motivation is minimal. Science, however, shows us that we need to upgrade our operating system to motivation 3.0. The new OS has three essential elements: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy "involves behaving with a full sense of volition and choice." Motivation is different from independence. It is not the go-it-alone individualism of the American West. It means acting with a choice, meaning we can be both autonomous and happily interdependent with others. And more importantly, this is a human concept, not a Western one. Autonomy has a powerful effect on performance. It promotes great conceptual understanding, better grades, enhanced persistence at school and in sporting activities, higher productivity, less burnout, and greater levels of psychological well-being. In addition, autonomous people impact the workplace. A study by Cornell University demonstrated that businesses that offered autonomy grew at four times the rate of non-autonomous businesses and had one-third the turnover. The opposite of autonomy is control. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement. Engagement leads to mastery, the desire to get better at something that matters. For the tasks of the 21st century, an inquiring mind and willingness to experiment to find a fresh solution is required. That means the ability to have autonomy over our tasks, techniques, team, and time. This all works to allow people to be engaged in their tasks and to master them. Autonomous people working toward mastery perform at very high levels. But those who do so in the service of some greater objective can achieve even more. The most deeply motivated people connect their desires to a cause larger than themselves. Thoughts I really enjoy the writings of Daniel Pink. He assembles complicated research and makes it accessible to the masses. I appreciate how Pink makes the research in the areas of motivation easy for those who are not scientists to understand. In fact, in Drive, he does a magnificent job. Much of the background for this book comes from the research of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College. He is noted for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic. He is the author of many books and over 120 articles or book chapters. Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, described Csikszentmihalyi as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology. I do a lot of church planter assessments and one of the things we look for is intrinsic motivation. This allows us to see what will keep them going when things get tough. It also allows us to determine if money is a primary motivator. Drive provides us with the research behind the importance of this needed tool for church planting. And for ministry in the 21st century as well. Drive is also a marker for entrepreneurial ministry. And entrepreneurialism in general. The book is easy to read despite its topic. It makes good use of emerging research. But it's a very practical book as well. At the end of the book, Pink provides a toolkit. In it, he provides strategies for awakening motivation for individuals, parents, educators, and businesses. He provides a great reading list of 15 essential books to encourage and promote a healthy environment for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He also provides a discussion guide to get the discussion started. This is a fabulous book, and will be effective for leaders and followers alike. Whether you are a pastor, small group leader, or business person, this will help motivate those you lead and even help you understand yourself better.

### ⭐ Review
*by N***J on October 20, 2025*

Unfortunatly i recived the book the cover was torn, i really did not like that, it rewined the book look

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