Daniel Pink argues that traditional rewards fail for complex work. Instead, pay employees well, then focus on autonomy (control over how and when they work), mastery (continuous improvement), and purpose (understanding why the work matters).
Autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Can you say more about those 3 pillars of the— We sort of have this head fake going on. We think that a certain kind of reward, what I call if-then rewards, are the secret to effective motivation. If you do this, then you get that. If you do this, then you get that. And we have now 60 years of research showing us that if-then rewards are pretty good for simple tasks with short time horizons, but not that effective for complex tasks with long horizons. For complex tasks with long horizons, what we want to do in the workplace especially Especially, is pay people well, and then, as you say, offer them those 3 things: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. So autonomy is, do you have some control over what you do, how you do it, when you do it, where you do it? Mastery is, are you getting better at something that matters? Are you making progress in something meaningful? And purpose is, do you know why you're doing it? Are you making a difference in the world? Are you making a contribution in your own little terrain? And those are the things that actually lead to enduring motivation. These if-then rewards, It's like, you know, I mean, you can keep shoveling coal into the furnace, but it burns up pretty quickly. These autonomy, mastery, and purpose, which form sort of the trifecta of intrinsic motivation, lead to enduring high performance.
