Gretta's book recomendation: "Drive"

Daniel Pink, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”

Reviewed by Gretta Mincer

Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That’ s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Last month, I heard an interview with Daniel Pink on NPR’s Morning Edition and was intrigued by the concepts he discussed in the interview. Interested enough to read a book though? Not an automatic yes. You see—I haven’t read more than 5 books a YEAR since I’ve been out of school. Perhaps I got ambitious with my new year’s resolutions—I ordered the book. Here’s my preview. You all are welcome to check-out this book and several others available in our small Leadership library in Student Activities.

Why Should I Read the Book:
The book contains scientific information about what motivates people. It challenges traditional approaches and gives new ideas for motivating others. The book focuses on three themes for motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

In working on a college campus, I can see how this might play out in student organizations. Groups may be setting themselves up to fail if you build an expectation that food will be at student organization events. Food may be a small motivator for new people to be involved, but people who continue to participate in the organization may build this as an expectation. People are much more likely to remain involved if they are given autonomy, responsibility and some creativity and feel like they contribute to the team. The second half of the book contains exercises designed to grow your skills in motivating others.

http://www.danpink.com/drive

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122271669: