The Gospel Coalition

Looking back at the books that made their way onto the New York Times list of bestsellers in January, I was rather surprised to see that only one of them could rightly be termed a business book. Daniel Pink’s Drive, which is jointly filed under Business and Self-Help, concerns itself with “The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.”

“This is a book about motivation,” he says. “I will show that much of what we believe about the subject just isn’t so… The problem is that most businesses haven’t caught up to this new understanding of what motivates us. Too many organizations—not just companies, but governments and nonprofits as well—still operate from assumptions about human potential and individual performance that are outdated, unexamined, and rooted more in folklore than in science.” This is an interesting premise, isn’t it? What if the way we try to motivate people, say through using financial bonuses in the workplace, is not only ultimately ineffective but also downright de-motivating? What if we have gotten this all very wrong? That would be bad news, I guess. “The good news is that the solution stands before us—in the work of a band of behavioral scientists who have carried on the pioneering efforts of Harlow and Deci and whose quiet work over the last half-century offers us a more dynamic view of human motivation. For too long, there’s been a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. The goal of this book is to repair that breach.”

Reading through a Christian lens, I saw that Pink immediately got off to a bad start by setting “carrot and stick” motivation within an evolutionary lens. That is to say that motivation that depends on bonuses for good behavior and punishment for poor behavior is rooted in evolutionary behavior. As one who puts no stock in that kind of evolution, I am left looking for another explanation for what appears to be deep-rooted human behavior.

Pink distinguishes between three types of motivation that he calls Motivation 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. Motivation 1.0 is instinctual, animal motivation or, in his worldview, the motivation of our simian ancestors. Motivation 2.0 says that the way to improve performance, to increase productivity, or encourage excellence is to reward the good and punish the bad. This is the motivation we most often see in the classroom and boardroom, but, he suggests, a kind of motivation that harms as much as it helps. This is especially true in creative work where it dulls rather than sharpens.

Pink proposes a new kind of motivation. Motivation 3.0 is a kind of internal motivation that arises at the confluence of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. These three terms play an important role in Drive. Autonomy is a natural human urge to direct our own lives; mastery is that desire to improve in our ability to do something that really matters; purpose is our desire to connect to something bigger than ourselves. Says Pink, “Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.”

At this point Pink introduces two kinds of behavior: Type X and Type I. Type X behavior is fueled by extrinsic rewards (“X” is for extrinsic, don’t you see?). Where we are mostly accustomed to Type X behavior, he pushes toward Type I which depends upon intrinsic rewards. Rather than being motivated only be extrinsic rewards such as year-end bonuses, we are motivated by the joy we take in what we do. Type I behavior depends upon these same three factors: autonomy, mastery and purpose. “Today economic accomplishment, not to mention personal fulfillment … depends not on keeping our nature submerged but on allowing it to surface. It requires resisting the temptation to control people—and instead doing everything we can to reawaken their deep-seated sense of autonomy. This innate capacity for self-direction is at the heart of Motivation 3.0 and Type I behavior.” Having introduced and defended Motivation 3.0, Pink provides a long list of resources for introducing it within organizations. He writes, for example, of one of today’s buzzwords: Results Only Work Environments, in which there are no set hours or locations; just get the work done and everyone’s happy. Maybe there is real benefit in rethinking how we work, even going so far as to rethink the Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 kind of workday.

I enjoyed reading Drive and found that it offered a multitude of interesting observations about human nature. Though the carrot and stick mentality seems to be deeply embedded in humans, either innately or perhaps culturally, I can see that a new kind of motivator may well suit us. Speaking personally, I know that I have found far more joy in situations where I’ve been self-directed and where I’ve found autonomy, mastery and purpose. Certainly those experiences have been far more beneficial than ones where I’ve been micro-managed and disenfranchised. And wouldn’t this make good sense from a theological perspective? God may resort to carrot and stick motivation when necessary (think of the Old Testament covenantal language in which God lays out a promise and obligation and the punishment due to those who violate the terms) but doesn’t God desire that we obey him freely and from the overflow of joy within? Doesn’t he desire that we worship and honor him out of delight rather than duty? That intrinsic motivation is so much more powerful, so much more fulfilling.

Drive is one of those books where I’d love to have a Christian “interpret” it. What I mean is that I’d love to hear a Christian who is knowledgeable about these kinds of business principles look at it through a Christian lens (I’m looking at you, Matt Perman). Many of the principles of the book will no doubt need to be discarded but many others will undoubtedly prove transferable by a mind far greater than mine.

As he brings the book to a close Pink writes, “A central idea of this book has been the mismatch between what science knows and what business does. The gap is wide. Its existence is alarming. And though closing it seems daunting, we have reasons to be optimistic.” Of course if there is a gap between science and business, the gap between theology and business must be greater still. I couldn’t help but think that in this book Pink unearths some truths about humans that are as much theological as they are scientific. Those principles, brought into a business, will surely have to change the way the business is run. And if business, why not ministry and classroom and the rest of life?

Verdict: Read it if you want to rethink how you are motivated and how to motivate others.