- Dan Pink presents the “candle problem” experiment created by psychologist Karl Duncker in 1945, which tests people’s ability to overcome functional fixedness in finding a solution to attach a candle to a wall.
- He talks about an experiment by scientist Sam Glucksberg, who tested the power of incentives in solving the candle problem, and found that rewards actually made people take longer to solve the problem.
- Pink argues that our business operating system is built entirely around extrinsic motivators such as carrots and sticks, which work for 20th-century tasks but not for the more complex 21st-century tasks that require creativity and innovation.
- He emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivators such as autonomy, mastery, and purpose, and how they can lead to better performance, engagement, and fulfillment in work.
- Pink calls for a shift in the way businesses motivate and engage their employees, away from the traditional reward-and-punishment approach and towards a more human-centered approach that taps into people’s intrinsic motivation.
Key Takeaways
- There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does about motivation.
- Intrinsic motivators like autonomy, mastery, and purpose are more powerful than extrinsic motivators like carrot and stick approach.
- Rewards and punishments can destroy creativity and limit high performance.
- The key to high performance lies in the intrinsic drive to do things for their own sake and because they matter.
- If we eliminate the ideology of carrots and sticks and bring our notions of motivation into the 21st century, we can strengthen businesses and change the world.
