Drive, by Daniel H. Pink, is a book about what motivates people. Pink first
gives an overview of motivation, particularly in the workplace, as it's been for the last century or so. That reward and punishment programs are structured around the carrot and stick philosophy and that this practice - while effective for some tasks - are no longer helping a large portion of today's economy.
Pink goes on to explain that the carrot and stick reward system is fantastic for algorithmic types of tasks. That is tasks where the worker follows a series instructions without thinking or being required to deviate. Carrot and stick rewards reduce focus and free thought - this is very beneficial when executing an algorithmic task.
The issue arises when these jobs are outsourced to other countries. The remaining jobs - those that can't be passed off as a simple instruction set - are what he classifies as heuristic. They are tasks that require creative thought. The person executing these tasks must solve a problem as efficiently and effectively as possible while determining the steps it takes to do that. There is no groove they can fall into; no set of instructions to blindly follow. In the face of this kind of challenge the reduced focus of carrot and stick motivation is crippling.
Pink then outlines a new motivational structure, one that moves away from extrinsic rewards and punishments. Pinks new motivational system focuses on the intrinsic, outlining what drives people internally and how to nurture that.
This book is an interesting read - as far as reading about thinking goes. Pink presents a large amout of scientific data in a digestable fashion. He also provides some discussion points and questions at the end of the book as well as some resources for those looking to implement some of the ideas in the book into their lives, workplaces or organizations. It's easy to see why this book is a New York Times best seller.