A Whole New MindDrive!

By Dan Pink

Nate LowryMarch 4, 2010

A Whole New MindMoving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age

A Tale of Two Brains

Sequential

Text

What is said

Analyzes the details

Left Hemisphere

Simultaneous

Context

How it’s said

Synthesizes the big picture

Right Hemisphere

Responses

• Functional MRI (fMRI)– Pictures of facial expressions

• Matching

– Right brain “reads” faces– Indoor/Outdoor distinction

Language

• Arabic and Hebrew – Right Brain– Written Right-to-Left

• Often only in consonants• Fill in the vowels• “stmp n th bg”

– “stomp on the bug”– “stamp in the bag”

Balance Is Key

• Left only– Spock Like– Chilly– No Emotion

• Right only– Weepy– Hysterical– Nothing really works

Knowledge Workers

• You

• Learning in school

• Not physical strength or manual skill

• Excel in Left-brain skills– No longer enough– Need Right-brain skills to get ahead

Reasons For Change

• Abundance– Walmart, choosing a trash can

• Asia– Estimated $136b in wages offshored by 2015

• Automation– Robots. Beep Beep Boop Beep Boop

Changes

Agriculture Age(Farmers)

Industrial Age(Factory Workers) Information Age

(Knowledge Workers)

Conceptual Age(Creators and Empathizers)

Changes

Agriculture Age(Farmers)

Industrial Age(Factory Workers) Information Age

(Knowledge Workers)

Conceptual Age(Creators and Empathizers)

Changes

Agriculture Age(Farmers)

Industrial Age(Factory Workers) Information Age

(Knowledge Workers)

Conceptual Age(Creators and Empathizers)

Changes

Agriculture Age(Farmers)

Industrial Age(Factory Workers) Information Age

(Knowledge Workers)

Conceptual Age(Creators and Empathizers)

Six Apptitudes

Not Just

Function

Argument

Focus

Logic

Seriousness

Accumulation

But Also

Design

Story

Symphony

Empathy

Play

Meaning

Design

1. Jeffery S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management

2. Jeffery S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management

3. Jeffery S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management

a) Courier New

b) Times New Roman

c) Arial

Answers: 1-b, 2-c, 3-a

Design - Tips

• Keep a design notebook– Write down or draw good designs you see

• Figure out why they are good

– Do the same for bad designs

Story

• Remember the test with pictures earlier?– Story

• Remember how many $$$ will be lost to Asia?– Fact

• Stories are patterns of logical experiences

Story - Books, Storybooks

• Read Robert McKee’s book – Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and The

Principles of Screenwriting

• Read Scott McCloud’s book – Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

For You To Do

• Write a Mini-Saga– 50 words

• No more• No less

Symphony

Symphony - Negative Space

Symphony – More Negative Space

Symphony - Listening

• Listen to great symphonies– Met Einstein at a party– Didn’t know about music

• Works from Bing Crosby to Mozart

– Did you start learning maths with calculus?• Start with “easy” things, even songs

– Work toward more complex pieces

For You To Do

• Draw!– Don’t think of the logical thing you are drawing– See the lines, shapes, connections

Empathy

• Put yourself in someone else’s shoes• Smile!

Play

• Video games– America’s Army

Play - Humor

• Mr. Smith: “Hey, are you using your lawn mower this afternoon?”

• Mr. Jones: “Uh, yes I am”• Mr. Smith:

a) “Oh well, can I borrow it when you’re done?”b) “Great. Then you won’t be using your golf clubs. Can I

borrow them?”c) “Oops!” as he steps on a rake that nearly hits him in

the faced) “The birds are always eating my grass seed.”

Play - Humor

• Laughter Clubs

• Cartoon Caption Game

Meaning

• Read Victor Frankl’s– Man’s Search for Meaning

• Labyrinths– Distract the left brain

Recap

• Abundance– Does it satisfy nonmaterial desires?

• Asia– Can someone overseas do it cheaper?

• Automation– Can a computer do it faster?

RecapStory

Symphony

Empathy

Play

Meaning

Design

Drive!The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

What Science Knows What Business

Does

Three Kinds of Drive

1. Biological– Food– Water– Sex

2. Rewards & Punishments– Carrot– Stick

3. “The performance of the task provided intrinsic reward”

Open Source Example

• Example of Motivation 3.0– Unpaid workers

• Many traditional companies’ IT infrastructure– Linux

• Wikipedia vs. Encarta

Human Behavior

• Tough to explain• Economics example

– $10 split• Clarinet practice example

– No $$$ (Motivation 2.0)– No mate (Motivation 1.0)

• Why do people take lower-paying jobs?– Office Space

Vocation Vacations

• Pay to work at another job– Chef– Running a bike shop– Animal shelter– “Sound Guy”– Carpenter

Monitoring

• Don’t people need to be monitored to work?– NO!

• 18M “non-employer businesses” in America– No paid employees– No one to manage or motivate

Carrots & Sticks

• People need baseline rewards– Need to pay the bills– Less anxiety

• What about this type of motivation?– Motivation 2.0

Tom Sawyer

• Whitewash that fence!– Work -> Fun

• Taxi driver vs. road-trip– Fun -> Work

Negative Effects

• If-Then Rewards– “If you do this, then I’ll give you that”– Actually lowers interest and motivation

Creativity – Candle Problem

Ethical Effects

• Pay-per-job or Pay-per-hour– Over-charging hours– Cheating customers

• Increased risk-taking

Other Problems With Rewards

• It can become an addiction

• The imply that the task is boring, undesirable

• Think about how casinos use them– Cheap food, comps

• People work to the reward, no further

The Seven Deadly Flaws

1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation2. They can diminish performance3. They can crush creativity4. They can crown out good behavior5. They can encourage cheating, shortcuts, and

unethical behavior6. They can become addictive7. They can foster short-term thinking.

…But

• Sometimes they do work• Very simple tasks

– Racing down an obvious path• Tasks with “even rudimentary cognitive skill”

– Rewards hurt performance

Vs.

When You Have To Use Carrots

• Offer a rational for why the task is necessary

• Acknowledge that the task is boring

• Allow people to complete the task their own way

Using The Right Carrots

• Unexpected

• After the task is complete– “Now, that” Vs. “If, then”

• Use nontangible rewards

• Provide useful information and feedback– People want to know how they are doing

Type I – Type X

Type I

Intrinsic Motivation

Joy in the Activities

Type X

Extrinsic Desires

External Rewards

Type I – Type X

Type I

Intrinsic Motivation

Joy in the Activities

Type X

Extrinsic Desires

External Rewards

Distinctions

• Type I behavior is made, not born• Type I’s almost always outperform Type X’s• Type I’s don’t ignore money and recognition• Type I behavior is a renewable resource

– Type I = The Sun, burns– Type 2 = Coal, burns out

• Type I behavior promotes greater physical and mental well-being

The Three Elements

• Autonomy

• Mastery

• Purpose

Autonomy

• Human Nature– Children

• The Four Essentials– Tasks – Google’s 20% time– Time – When’s your best time to work?– Technique – Zappos interview $2k to leave– Team – Who do you want to work with?

Mastery

• Use Goldilocks Tasks– Not too tough– Not too easy

• Three Laws– Mindset – Set goals for learning, not performance

• Use setbacks as guideposts

– Pain – Work, work, work, Including the mundane– Asymptote – You never actually “master” anything

Flow

• Define it?

Purpose

• TOMS Shoes

• Employee budgets for charitable giving

Recap

• Motivation– What Science Knows != What Business Does

• Carrot & Stick Doesn’t Work

• Encourage Type I Behavior– Autonomy– Mastery– Purpose

Activity Time

Online Assesment

• Well actually…

Activity• Summarize your life in one sentence• Samples (9th Graders)

– She changed the way kids feel about going to the doctors and dentist.– He made the NFL and gave money for children’s athletics throughout the

USA.– His life was lived to the fullest and he had no regrets.– Her behind-the-scenes management made the shows the best Broadway

has ever seen.– He saved lives every day with a scalpel.– She changed the world in subtle ways.

• Samples (Grownups)– Abraham Lincoln – He preserved the union and freed the slaves– FDR – He lifted us out of a great depression and helped us win a world war

Activity

• Make your own cheesy motivational poster– http://wigflip.com/automotivator/

Activity

• Get a notecard– Front: What gets you up in the morning?– Back: What keeps you up at night?

Thanks