Drive - Daniel Pink

Question 1

Harlow’s puzzle with rhesus monkeys

Answer 1

Unbidden by any outside urging and unprompted by the experimenters, the monkeys began playing with the puzzles with focus, determination, and what looked like enjoyment.

Question 2

Edward Deci puzzle experiment

Answer 2

Group A played more with the puzzle when they received a reward but then less afterwards when they no longer received a reward.
Group B played progressively more over 3 days despite never being offered a reward.

Question 3

Algorithmic vs heuristic tasks

Answer 3

Algorithmic tasks - follow a set of established instructions down a single pathway to one conclusion
Heuristic tasks - because no algorithm exists for it, you have to experiment with possibilities and devise a novel solution

Question 4

Intrinsic Motivation Principle of Creativity

Answer 4

Intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity; controlling extrinsic motivation is detrimental to creativity

Question 5

The (Tom) Sawyer Effect

Answer 5

Practices that can either turn play into work or turn work into play

Question 6

Only contingent rewards have a negative effect. Why?

Answer 6

“If-then” rewards require people to forfeit some of their autonomy.

Question 7

Functional fixedness

Answer 7

You look at an object and see only one function based on how it is presented.

Question 8

Effect of money reward on speed of solving the candle problem

Answer 8

It took them 3 minutes longer because the rewards narrow our focus and blinker the wide view that allows us to see new uses for old objects (creative, heuristic thinking).

Question 9

The Seven Deadly Flaws of Carrots and Sticks

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Shift from “If-then” rewards to “Now that” rewards

Answer 10

Any extrinsic reward should be unexpected and offered only after the task is complete.
Consider no tangible rewards (praise and positive feedback, relate to purpose)
Provide useful information (focus on specifics, praise effort and strategy rather than outcome)

Question 11

Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan)

Answer 11

3 innate psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness (connected to one another)

Question 12

The Four Essentials of Autonomy

Answer 12

Their task
Their time
Their technique
Their team

Question 13

Mastery

Answer 13

The desire to get better and better at something that matters

Question 14

Techniques for triggering flow in an organization

Answer 14

1. Goldilocks tasks matching what people can do with what they must do
2. Give autonomy to add tasks that turn work into play (Sawyer Effect)
3. Foster a growth mindset

Question 15

Ingredient for Mastery

Answer 15

1. Flow (children seek it out constantly)
2. Growth mindset
3. Pain tolerance (grit)
   Mastery is an asymptote

Question 16

Csikszentmihalyi on Purpose

Answer 16

“Purpose provides activation energy for living.”

Question 17

Purpose

Answer 17

Goals, Words, Policies
“We” companies vs “they” companies
“People at work are thirsting for context, yearning to know that what they do contributes to a larger whole.”
Attainment of purpose goals led to well-being while the attainment of profit goals led to ill-being

Question 18

What’s your sentence?

Answer 18

“A great man is a sentence” (not a paragraph) - Clare Boothe Luce

Question 19

Was I a little better today than yesterday?

Answer 19

Look for the small measures of improvement - they’ll lead to long term mastery.

Question 20

Carve our time for noncommissioned work

Answer 20

20% time at Google/Friday evening experiments
Start small and with those who are most likely to embrace it (and then grow from there)
Require all to share it (ideas, plans, products, etc.)