Drive

Today I am leading a discussion on the book Drive by Daniel Pink. True to form, I finished the book just in time to do lead the group. I have to say though, my little noggin doesn't retain information that well, so I think recency is best for me in this case. I have enjoyed reading the works of Dan Pink. I read A Whole New Mind recently and I think on the whole I found that one more readable. Having said that, I was very intrigued by the concepts in this book and it actually is up my alley in terms of my education and training.

In the book, Pink deconstructs modern day management principles when it comes to Motivation. He sites research of economists and psychologists. He claims that a majority of today's organizations still employ industrial revolution reward tactics when the content of most jobs have far from industrial/routine tasks. The industrial revolution model is carrot and stick and holds the assumption that people are not motivated by the work and need and external reward to get them to do it. The stick part is the belief that people are prone to shirk their duties so controls for that must be in place. In today's model most jobs have task that are less routine and therefore carrot and stick approaches have lost their impact and in some cases can actually be detrimental to productivity and possibly lead to unethical behaviors. In his book he describes the new need to upgrade the motivation model to a new version NOT to update the old version. The model must consider autonomy, mastery and purpose while also considering the baseline need for people to be appropriately remunerated. The new variables are based on the assumption that, on the whole, humans are motivated intrinsically especially when the content of their work requires creativity and abstract thinking.

That is about all I want to say ABOUT the book for now because I could go on and on....what I want to say is how this book applies to ME in 2 very surprising ways (to me at least). Firstly, Dan Pink talks extensively of the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (say that 5 times fast) and the theory of flow where the task and the skill are appropriately matched to provide a level of focus and drive to complete the task (his seminal research was on artists, rock climbers, surgeons etc). The theory of flow has been extended to the workforce in many ways. In fact, little ole' me did a paper on the topic of flow and performance appraisals. I remember being excited about the concept of flow and the requirement was to apply it to a human resources process. So, part of me thinks I was onto something maybe before it was even "something"...and if I'm wrong, at least I can think so. I do not have my paper anymore so I cannot corroborate my thinking...you'll just have to believe me. I was on the cutting edge! (maybe).

The second surprising link to my life is that when I was a consultant at Booz Allen and Hamilton I worked with the Patent and Trademark Office to assess their performance measurement system which was amazingly disassociated from the actual work they did. They were measured and rewarded based on archaic Frederick Taylor (time and motion) principles when the actual work they were doing was extremely complex and non routine. It was mind boggling to see the mismatch AND what behaviors it drove as a result. The Patent/Trademark examiners were essentially rewarded on how many patents they "touched" in a certain time frame which didn't take into account the content and complexity of the actual patent. Therefore they were required to cut corners, to extend patents, and more than likely accept patents that weren't valid. My point about this isn't to denigrate the PTO and its processes, BUT to say that I consulted in an environment where the premise of the book Drive was actually based.

The reading of this book and my review of it makes me feel as if I actually have paid attention in my life and that I actually do know what I'm talking about and that I actually am on the right path in terms of what makes me tick....

Or in terms of the book Drive...I am working toward autonomous job, that provides me the opportunity to strive for mastery, that has the purpose of serving others! Many things to ponder....and I LIKE IT!