Our ASTD local study tour spent two days in New York en route to Chicago and had a wonderful visit to IBM’s INNOVATION Centre in Hawthorne, USA.
A strong emphasis on Social Media emerged throughout the conference. The opening address at the Chicago Conference was delivered by Daniel Pink, author of  A Whole New Mind -  the right brainers will rule the future and  D R I V E  - the surprising truth about what motivates us. In his first book he postulates that we are moving from an economy of and society built on logic linear,  computerlike capabilities of THE INFORMATION AGE to an economy and society built on inventive, empathic, big picture capabilities of what’s rising in it’s place  - THE CONCEPTUAL AGE.

In his latest book, D R I V E  and in his presentation, Daniel disagrees with the belief that  the best way to motivate  ourselves and others is with external rewards like money and the carrot–and-stick approach,  To him the secret to high performance and satisfaction, at work and at home, is the deep human need to direct our lives, to learn and create new things and to do better than ourselves and our world. In the new world of motivation he expouses what science knows and what business does - and how that effects every aspect of our lives. The carrot-and-the-stick approach worked successfully in the 20th Century, but is the wrong application for to-day’s challenges. When money is used as an external reward for an activity the subjects lose intrinsic interest for the activity. Rewards can deliver a short term boost, but the effect wears off and can reduce a person’s long term motivation to continue.

CARROTS-and-STICKS (motivation 2.00). The seven deadly sins:

1. Can extinguish intrinsic motivation
2. Can diminish performance
3. Can crush creativity
4. Can crowd our good behaviour
5. Can encourage cheating, short cuts and unethical behaviour
6. Can become addictive
7. Can foster short term thinking.

He examines three elements of true motivation: - Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose

Autonomy.  (The desire to direct our lives)
To be autonomous and self directed. Allow people to solve problems their way  for e.g. Call centres have up to 100% turn over of staff. Zappos.com, a shoe company, cut turnover substantially by allowing workers to solve the problem their way. After one week’s training new hires the CEO makes an offer. To those who do not want to join he gives $2000 with no hard feelings. He weeds out those who are not fit to work in a 3.0 –style work place.  Fedex allows workers to spend 10 - 20% of their time to work on anything they like to do. People need autonomy over task. However autonomy does not mean discouraging accountability.  People with high jntrinsic motivation also become better co-workers.

Mastery. (The urge to get better and better at something that matters)
Helping people to make progress in their work...... is the key to motivation.
Motivation doesn’t depend on elaborate incentive systems but on making progress in one’s work. The best way to do performance appraisal is to call yourself into the office and D.I.Y. In all walks of life people must be accountable for their work. Control leads to compliance, autonomy leads to engagement and self  fulfilment. You can approach it, you can get close to it, but you can never touch it.  Mastery is impossible to realise fully.

Purpose.  (The yearning to do something in service, something larger than ourselves)
Humans, by their nature, seek purpose — a cause greater and more enduring than themselves. People working for themselves achieve more self actualisation. We need to ask ourselves “What can I do  better to-day than yesterday”. People seek purpose - a cause greater and more enduring than themselves and the desire to make a contribution.