I just read a really interesting book. It is called Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. I had heard the author, Daniel Pink, speak at the Willowcreek Leadership Summit this past summer and so I added his book to my wish list and waited until I found a good deal on it.
His book is not the strongest of books in terms of protecting a generally well created thesis. Like other social science books today, he borrows from the research of many others to support his proposition. This approach can seem disjointed at times. However, the strength of that approach, if you find the topic interesting, is that it provides you with months of future reading from the plethora of citations. This is especially true of the toolkit Pink provides at the end of the book.
I would think anyone who leads people or employs people should read this book. There is a chance that you are using out of date motivational tools in your business or organization and that it is costing your organization in productivity and morale.
I can see from observations in my own career and in my wife’s career that some people absolutely do not understand how to motivate others who are intrinsically driven. I have witnessed many personal examples of leaders who sucked the life out of employees. If you observed the same experience and you want to understand it better this book will really help.
This book is good news for church leaders because Pink is convincing in showing that the typical “carrots” (pay, bonuses, perks) that businesses use to motivate are typically ill matched to an inner drive most people have. He says, people are motivated by three things: autonomy, mastery and purpose. I believe that he is correct. And I believe the church can offer those three things to people more than any other organization … especially purpose. I find his discoveries very encouraging and helpful for those of us that work in the church.
I can highly recommend it.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?