Autonomy. Mastery. Purpose. Sounds so simple and obvious, right? I recently read Daniel Pink’s latest book, Drive. (If you don't follow him on Twitter yet, you should @danielpink.) His words were refreshing and enlightening, and many ideas hit home, gave me new ways to think about motivating myself at work and being a better leader, and even motivated me to ensure that I lead a fulfilling career based on the things that I value, not merely the things that my company or boss values. The ideas are pretty simple:
- Motivation 1.0 provides for basic survival skills
- Motivation 2.0 continues to play off animalistic instinct (this is how I train my dog), but
- Motivation 3.0 considers real human values, things that are seriously lacking in today’s workplace – things that will push us to be better employers and leaders into the 21st century.
The book made me think about a couple key points of relevancy in my career. First, as Boomers retire and we Millennials become more prominent in varying levels of leadership roles, autonomy will be apparent in the way they lead their teams. Our generation craves autonomy, individuality and independence - I truly believe these are a part of our generational DNA. Autonomy goes both ways between the leader and the team. I couldn’t have imagined giving up my freedom as a leader or taking away theirs. Leaders should be committed to guiding, coaching, being accountable and holding accountable, but ultimately for the end result, not the means.
Next concept: mastery. The book talks about when we're in flow, and how we should find roles where we can achieve that sense of flow on a regular basis. It's rewarding. I think about when I'm tweaking a PowerPoint presentation, putting the finishing touches on an oil painting, or leading a team through a development exercise. Pink would argue that if we’re masters of nothing, purely generalists, we may not achieve the level of mastery that we so crave. Someone once told me that life is like a funnel, and with each decision, we move a bit closer to the bottom of the funnel, in that we’ve narrowed our options. For example, my life choices have pretty much ruled out me ever being a doctor or musician. If we do not encourage employees to continue to hone in on their strengths and what makes them tick, we may be missing an opportunity to create true masters in a variety of business domains, where today, generalists are trying to stay afloat through mediocrity instead of mastery.
Lastly, and perhaps most impactful, were my thoughts around the US healthcare system and how Pink’s third prong to Motivation 3.0, connectedness, could perhaps be a key to solving the US healthcare crisis. This January, I had the pleasure of meeting a visionary man named Dr. Devi Shetty, a heart surgeon in Bangalore, India, who is trying to reform the cost of healthcare. Dr. Shetty has been able to offer heart surgeries that cost thousands in the US for only $2,000 in India, by leveraging economies of scale (they don’t turn anyone away) and by paying the technicians – the heart surgeons – a competitive annual salary, instead of compensating per surgery.
This idea will undoubtedly alarm many Americans who question if a change in compensation structure will detract high quality surgeons from the pressures of medical school. Motivation 3.0 would argue that the compensation must be fair, even above average, but to then remove the issue of money off the table. The real key to attracting strong healthcare workers would be to connect the work back to the bigger meaning, to ensure all individuals are given access to necessary healthcare. If the focus is on achieving purpose, this model might even allow hospitals to admit everyone who needs treatment, which would again drive costs down (larger orders of medical devices).
As an online assessed Type I, I realize the internal struggle I go through when deciding where my career will go from here. I’ve always cared about autonomy, mastery, and purpose, but I am also at times distracted by external rewards. I highly recommend Pink's book! Also, if you're curious to know where you fall on the internal/external reward spectrum, go to http://www.danpink.com/drive-survey to take the survey! I think it'll be worth your 10 minutes of time. :)
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