The puzzle of motivation | Dan Pink | TED
Visit TED.com to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
Follow TED on Twitter: / tedtalks
Like TED on Facebook: / ted
Subscribe to our channel: / ted
TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (or the CC BY - NC - ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (www.ted.com/about/our-organiz.... For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at media-requests.ted.com
Anyone in 2024😂
Me
Me too
March 23rd 2024
Sup
I think we all come from that Instagram video
Is it bad that I'm procrastinating about homework by watching a TedTalk about motivation
haha, I'm with you!
Oh my God. I guess we humans are not that different after all. I have a speech tomorrow and I came here in search for some magical confidence. ;)
I would say its worse when you are procrastinating on a time management essay.
Hope you guys finished that homework.
Do not let today's work for tomorrow, if you can do it in the day after tomorrow...
I had a professor during my undergrad who assigned a 40% essay with no topic. She said, "write about whatever interests you, but make it interesting." I honestly thought it would break me, but it's one of the best papers I've written to this day.
I’m curious what class that was for
This sounds beautiful.
Please share the essay.
ive written one similar for an English class so maybe they did too @@lorettaanderson1050
Hahahaha nice
My brief summary: Studies have found that incentives (money) can help people to very simple tasks, but the moment a task requires even a little bit of creativity, incentives can reduce performance. Dan goes on to explain that Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose are the most important points to engaging people in their work. They need to have the autonomy to be able to work on their tasks without someone micromanaging their methods. They need to have a sense of improvement in their skill as they do their work. Last, they need to feel that the work they are doing serves some bigger, more meaningful purpose than just getting them a paycheck
In addition to this being an insightful, thought-provoking talk, Dan Pink’s presentation skills are engaging, captivating, and effective. He makes skillful use of humor, including some subtle self-deprecating jokes. He pauses before certain punch lines. His confidence is impressive. Excellent speaker.
Yes you’re right he’s an excellent speaker who knows how to get the attention
Actually, he has written a book on this. To sell is human
A fascinating topic (admittedly like most TED talks)... I feel that the concept would apply really well to fitness, another major problem of our time. When you eat well and exercise for an extrinsic reward, losing twenty pounds, getting abs, fitting in a couple sizes smaller, its easy to lose interest, to get discouraged, to stop. When the reward becomes intrinsic, when you enjoy exercise, and when eating well becomes a habit you prefer to eating like crap, then consistency - and results - come a lot easier. A pet theory on my part but it makes sense to me.
Cwillz303 True. I wouldn't have thought that far..thanks!
+Cwillz303 Well said. I actually did a video on just this mindset not knowing it would help in this way
Cwillz303 kash kamashbhla in a row
Do a Tedx talk!
My experience matches your idea, with diet and work
This theory connects with our education system as well. I believe schools are failing in motivating students to perform higher level thinking or even any thinking at all. Grades act as incentives/rewards in the same way as money, etc. Teachers should focus on guiding students and motivate students to believe there is a purpose to the work they are doing to stimulate higher cognitive thinking. Some teachers do, some don't. However, this does not mean the grading system should be replaced, because high school kids are much younger and underdeveloped compared to adults in the work force. They need more rules and guidance to stay on task, but still a level of freedom that allows them to find their own reasons or motivation.
Nathan Melia At the end of the day, why do you get a job? It’s because you want to make money. If they gave you the option to not work at all and get the same money as working what would you choose?
Ww s6avv
Ww dhavv vou
@Tucson Jim they're failing because they're designed to fail. They're brainwashing facilities.
My son goes to a school where there are no grades, they just learn and the purpose is to learn the stuff to know the stuff and not to give someone a mediocre grade and move on. How much can you actually learn when under stress (of getting a bad grade)? The motivation to learn should be inside the person, not outside (a reward/punishment). Also, when you give someone a reward (a good grade) for accomplishing something, you are telling them nonverbally, that the task itself has no value, it’s not worth working on, because you have to bribe the kid with a good grade to do something, so it’s basically downgrading the value of the work itself. That’s why I am not a fan of outside motivation, grading kids in the school, giving them rewards for doing what they are supposed to do anyway etc.. That’s how we’ve ended up with a population of adults who only work for a reward or under the threat of punishment and we don’t see any value in the work itself.
Did anyone see the video quality and immediately check when the video was released?
Me
me
12:17 Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose are 3 building blocks for Intrinsic Motivation. 9:27 Rewards for Mechanical Skill & Cognitive skills. Different responses. 11:30 Financial Incentives vs Performance 14:53 20% Time for Things which not working normally; Passionate about.
hi plZ can you hilp me
Hahahah why are you trying this
The Wikipedia example is just so good.
this guy is a great speaker
The first time, I love him very much !!
Benjamin Shurts weird.... I completely disagree. I loved the topic but his Baptist preacher voice made me want to turn it off halfway through. I actually scrolled down at 9 minutes to write this lol. different strokes for different folks I guess
I disagree and think he jumps to conclusions from the candle experiment. Yes it's a cool experiment. But there were specific very short term time pressures to solve this one. That's rarely realistic. In real business life we have much longer. And hard work / pressure to get results - really makes a big difference overall. Inc. creativity. Often we find that it is not the big companies where employees are comfortable have free time - who innovate. It is the small startups who have something to prove. Google employees are too relaxed. Did you notice the examples he gave as innovation where not really innovation. Gmail, google docs? Come on. All of the innovation "done" by google was when they bought innovative smaller more focused companies like DeepMind.
a great lawyer,!!!!
He used to write speeches for politicians, which is why he's so good at speaking!
Smart man, Dan Pink. He speaks a strong case against money as a motivator of complex problem solving. Money works as a motivator for simple mechanical (non-cognitive) problems. Creative problems that require brain power and doing something that has not been done before demands for commitment. Dan says giving people Autonomony, drive to master the skill, and meaning purpose are superior motivators.
^word
Money works but most blue collar workers will be told the bonus is an extra $10 in the pay, if you do say 10+ hours of overtime, so people see it as a waste of time and don't bother with it as there's little point in the bonus anyway. Yet the foreman or production manager get a $1000+ bonus for coming up with the idea and thinks the company will output a lot more work.
'Pends on how much you need the money, which comes from intrinsic motives for millions not in management.
Dan hooks his audience in the first 15 seconds by arousing their curiosity (with his "I have a confession to make..")! Masterfully done! A great way to start his speech / presentation...
yes , I think I learned more about being a good speaker watching this than what he was actually speaking about , lol
It had the exact opposite effect on me. Such cliche openers are instant turn-offs.
if public speakers say stuff like this ..its like a car salesman asking "how s your wife ? ..got any kids ? " its insencere and just a trick .. dont trust them
This concept also relates to school and the education system. You do well on a test or you need to do homework to get a good grade, but what the education system should do instead is to tell the kids that learning is for you. That you don't just come to school because you need to, do so because you want to. You want to master your learning, not waste 20 plus years on something you don't even think is important...
Pay students to go to school n enrollment numbers will naturally increase
@@tuxman06 temporarily.
If you only went to school because you wanted to, very few kids would go to school.
@@ericamartin74 I did think that, although that would then also put the onus back on the powers that be to ensure the curriculum / learning availability was actually interesting, giving that intrinsic motivation back into the "system"
Thisss!
You know it’s an old TEDTalk when it doesn’t start with the *shoooooom shOooooooom Shoooooooom pLinG*
i was thinking about moving the table away from the candle xD
Ciara Lo big brain
Exactly wax can't fall on the table if there's no table XD
I was thinking about not lighting the candle at all.
But... what would you place the candle on?
@@zukimajuqwana5712 possibly just melt the wax and stick it on the wall
This is amazing as I always associated motivation with money and company benefits. When I was in one company, I was so unhappy and believed that I needed promotion. however, I can now relate to the fact that all I wanted was recognition. If I was recognised for my achievements, I would not have resigned from the company. Insightful indeed
yes! recognition, acknowledgement and appreciation. that's what I've discovered is missing when I feel uninspired, unmotivated, or unhappy.
Maybe you were already payed enough for your work or even more then you deserved and needed recognition to validate yourself
His book "Drive" offers some of the best life lessons. Truly one of the greatest Ted talks of all time.
ほんとこのチャンネル面白いなぁ 見てて飽きない話題ばっかりだ
This talk deserved an ovation. Bravo!
One of the best presentations I've ever seen!
Take the time to watch this, maybe even annually. Great video.
Beautiful. My favorite Ted speech ever due to it's full implications in regard to human spirit.
日本語翻訳字幕を付けてくれて感謝します。このチャンネルは本当に興味深いお話しが多い
Such a great speech. I've read a very similar data in Cal Newport's book. He lists autonomy, creativity, impact and recognition as the elements of great work. He also questions the existence of a "dream job". Great stuff, worth recommending. I'm so happy that I found this video. It reminded me that setting certain standards might be a form of laziness. And it's not about having high or low standards either! It's about reminding yoursef that you constantly need to think outside the box and only then can you contribute and grow.
Is anyone else procrastinating by watching motivational videos?
I wrote a book. I spent a lot of time researching, watching motivational videos and in the end I finished the book and published it. I never felt my time was wasted.
yeuuuup
I've been procrastinating from replying to you for 5 years. It's getting bad.
Yes I must have bumped my head ,why why why am i watching this instead of getting my assignments finished.
Yes, I am watching this now. At this time I usually go to my Procrastination Club meeting, but tonight's session was put off until later.
LOve this guy's dry sense of humor!!! Also some very valuable and insightful info.
Autonomy, mastery and purpose are three main elements of the new operating system for our businesses, it's right. If we treat our job as a thing that brings us salary every month, we fail. Passion is always the important factor that lead to success.
Thank you Daniel Pink for saying what I have been feeling for over 10 years trying to navigate and make an impact in education in Southern California. I saw professionals try to punish and reward students to do well and work in line with only doing well on a standardized test that does not matter to the students. EDUCATORS we need to manage our students with intrinsic motivation not extrinsic ones. Change the model today before it’s too late.
I found this talk really thought provoking.
Now looking back after Covid and working from home, what an insight demonstrated by Dan Pink even back in 2010!
I'm watching this as part of my college course Advanced Leadership Applications. Great insight from Pink.
Loved this video! He was so positive and so ambitious.
The higher the reward the higher the stress. Stress is the opposite of creativity
@Tucson Jim You're completely missing the point. The examples you cite are not some soulless, technocratic reward-and-punishment system. They are the inevitable challenges that life throws at us, and how we choose to respond, both outwardly and inwardly, is under our own autonomy. It's true that "resolving conflict and overcoming suffering" require creativity and build character. Having someone dangle a $20 reward for finding a "creative solution" within a limited time frame, however, does not.
This doesn't make any sense. And, if you were to study the world's most creative people and their breakthroughs, you would find that extreme stress is often the catalyst for extreme creativity and novel thinking.
@@illuminated2438 Right but the point being that creative people doing breakthroughs have a sense of achievement and sense of doing something purposeful like in FedEx days I believe the speaker missed this part , if you only have stress coupled with material incentive and no sense of doing something worthwhile , it is doomed to fail
@@illuminated2438 the science is there, though.
Stress can be a huge motivator for creativity actually
one of the best I have ever seen on KZhead and in general
That guy just described what happened since then, visionary ! Even more with the younger generations, autonomy is the key to get our involvement. He got it !
This is one of the channels that gave me the courage to start my KZhead channel 2 months ago about self development and now have 76 subs and almost 55 hour watch time. I know it’s not comparable with others but I’m still proud I started because I’ve been learning so much lessons that I couldn’t have learned without getting started in the 1st place
WAY TO GO!!! Who cares what others are doing. I'm sure you're proud of yourself
@@KrithikaaSuresh thanks so much! I’ve been getting tons of support that keep me going. I’d rather die with full of mistakes and risks that made me grow rather than with full of regrets
Yesss 🎉
@@MahnaGhafori My channel has almost 200 subs and 90 hours of watch time although my next video completion progress has been pretty slow due to switching to another editing software and change of gears but no matter how slow it is to make videos, I do enjoy it. I know that my channel is way more low quality and not even close to other KZheadrs' success out there but really, I realized that the main reason for doing this is not about the success but the inspiration I've been providing some people with my stories and experiences. Whoever you are, I don't know you personally but I can say based on what you said, I can say that you're one of the non-judgmental and open-minded people who is not fixated on tangible or external factors in order to learn from someone like me. Just because someone doesn't have a piece of paper as a credential, doesn't mean that person is not entitled to share personal experiences with the hope & intention to inspire others. Keep up with whatever it is that you're doing to improve mankind or improving your life even to a slight degree each day. This is just one part of a bigger puzzle for creating my KZhead channel about holistic health. I literally could have died back when I was 14 years old due to major depression but here I am right now replying to you, a KZheadr, who's full of fulfillment and dedication to help others to be a better version of themselves. I ain't better than anyone else but my old self. That's all that really makes this KZhead thing more meaningful and enjoyable. Thanks so much for your support!
THanks for sharing this...
This is simply awesome speech. Simple example handle powerfully to prove.
Brilliant video about how we should think about motivation.
one of the best ted talks i have ever watched! very well presented and interesting facts. :)
Learned a lot from this, thank you!
I agree, as long as, you add one word: Accountability. As a Software Engineer I have seen this process in practice with two issue: (1) People will game the process (Especially Engineers). (2) Some will misunderstand the process and take it for apathy by their organization. Accountability solves both issues. When people believe others find them accountable for their work the intrinsic reward of accomplishment is even greater because it assures the value of their work.
Great insight!
This could be one of the best/most impactful speeches ever.
So true,I used to work for a company where the boss would come in at the beginning of the month and tell us what needed to be achieved by the end of the month, He'd say i don't care how you do it, but this is where you need to be within the month, and we were all so motivated to work, we would happily work deep into the night, once i remember working through to the next day, Just being entrusted with the responsiblity of getting the job done meant so much, Sadly he left the business to his son who really didn't want to be there, who ended up running the place into the ground
I personally interpret the findings of the experiment this way:People that are given extrensic motivation feel anxious to win the reward because the nature of this type of motivation is competitive.However,intrinsic motivation loosens up people and instead of being nervous,they are excited and calm.Productivity rises because you are not restricted and you multiply the pontential.
How can you be excited and calm
Maybe, instead of "calm" it is a kind of "fearlessness " or low anxiety.
ONE OF THE BEST TALKS IN TED
I truly love the idea of freedom being the most powerful motivator. I just watched another talk before this one talking about how emotion is the primary motivator. They go perfectly together. There have been countless studies proving these things, and pointing to this obvious solution. What do we have to do to adjust our society to the idea of this freedom?
Hello! What interview did you watch before this?
I agree with this, when I have a task to accomplish but with a free schedule I'm the most productive and focused, but when I know I have to wake up or be somewhere at a certain time for a certain amount of hours it immediately makes me less motivated and actually try to find a way to get away from it, counting the seconds until I can leave even though I have nothing better to do afterwards. Maybe that's a personal flaw but I definitely see where he is coming from, if the economy followed some degree of this I bet people would be happier and more productive. Of course some people would take advantage, but people already do that in different ways.
It was a very impressive lecture. Thank you for setting an important direction in my life.
My 3-month-old daughter is mesmerized by Mr. Pink's performance and his voice.
Mans speaking wholesome facts. Couldn't have said it any better
second time watching this in two years and still love it, now I can finish my report for my Business class :)
Amazing. I love the final delivery where he specifically says "what we know in our hearts". It's so true. If you show any good natured even slightly intelligent person this video they will understand it, they will agree with it. I think the biggest problem is getting businesses to actually make the change.
Yes babe
This is good stuff. I have alway tried to point out in business the unintended consequences of incentivizing certain goals like gross sales. Everything else gets ignored, including long term customer relationships, customer service, quality of product or service etc.
i cannot praise this video highly enough...very good thoughts...very good speaker
He’s right: motivation works better when it is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. Here in Brazil, We as teachers and professors struggle to bring this issue about at school meetings as responsibilities to arouse students’ motivation has long been transferred to us.
Please take the time to watch all of this - Dan's practical ideas on motivation do work for knowledge workers - I use these principles when working with my development teams - what can I say but - THEY WORK!
“Autonomy, mastery and purpose “ key to intrinsic motivation!!
Why didn't I find this video sooner? A must watch!
Love this guy (Pink, not Saget), as he is able to fuse two of my favorite subjects (human psychology and business) into something not only coherent, but usually spot on brilliant. Unlike say Drucker or Maslow who also tie the two subjects in brilliant fashion, he is also quite entertaining. He wrote one of the most eye opening books I've ever read in "A Whole New Mind". This short speech on motivation is terrific in its own right and a great taster for anyone unfamiliar with Pink's work.
I am the only one who is watching this for a homework ?.
is merrill your teacher?
Nope I am as well. Weeeeeee
Portland State checking in.
no me too
Midwestern State checking in.
Very informative reading, thank you for posting!
Thought provoking & quite practical.
Preach it, brother!
Great thanks for these perfect ideas . "Help others over come defeat - let them tell you the whole story, then let them know that you value them and still believe in them. Share your past troubles and traumas, people find comfort knowing they are not the only ones who have suffered defeat "
Definitely one of my favourite Ted talks
The thing that surprised me most was that this speech had been conducted when I was four years old.
LMAO this is the funniest and most energetic Ted Talk guy I've ever heard I love him give me more
Right?! If you're interested in another uber funny and energetic Ted Talk, check out Shawn Achor's talk: www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work/discussion#t-489109
Greetings from Azerbaijan to all over the world 😊
Hello.
+ss062 😊
👍👍👍
What a great talk, thank you!
Wow, I actually learned something. Great talk!
i think this can also be extended to marks and schools. the higher marks leading to better collages etc can be seen as motivation but that only makes us good test writers and not better thinkers. maybe, his theory can be extended tothis as well ?
Seems true.
Shruti Iyer That was exactly my first thought after watching this. Up until college I was always this kid who didn't need to study much to get As. Now that some creative thinking is to be done (I study economics) - from which, by the way, the educational system has discouraged me for the most of my life - but at the same time my fate depends on one stupid exam, in many cases that's what I concentrate on. The mark. Staying the part of the system - which, by the way, is bullsh*t.
I didn't do so well in collage. I got glue everywhere.
@hippiechickie That comment made me chuckle. I was wondering if anyone would have picked up on his spelling error.
I'm not sure about anywhere else, but in the UK we have BTEC courses. In these, you aren't marked on how well you do in a seated exam but instead are marked over the duration of your course through assessments and with more choice given to the students on what they'd like to do. I think this is a much better way to complete a college course, more freedom, better results.
Very interesting point about the 20th century reward system. And I definitely do agree that intrinsic tasks are more effective. Great case!
This is so motivating, holy cow
One of my favorite and most interesting talks.
Could it possibly be a stress-related performance question as to why higher incentives for more complicated tasks led to lowered success? Performance anxiety of achieving an accurate infallible solution for a reward versus achieving an accurate solution with allowances for errors through voluntary participation.
You hit it on the head with the voluntary participation part. I think when it’s voluntary, it’s less pressure. The allowance or reward should be in the work it self and everything else a bonus. In a perfect world that’s what I think we would all be doing. How bout give them the reward before hand 🙂☺️🧐
And notice how he said he never practiced law a day in his life in the beginning Lol maybe it wasn’t law for him maybe it was something else that motivated his enthusiasm. He did good . Law school is a challenging field and just the fact he made it all the way threw is a reward in its self. He probably had a good time in law school I’m thinking. Haha
I really enjoyed watching this video, it was interesting and factual. It made me think more about intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and how ROWE example helps people to become successful.
Truely amazing speech and a very important topic! A model that all businesses need to incorporate across the globe!
So mindopening! Great.
To everyone who is thinking of starting their own business, believe in yourself and never give up.Your future self will be thankful
Forex/Bitcoin trading is more profitable and a big chance to make more money nowadays.
Yes sure, forex is a more profitable online busines.
Forex? I had interest in forex trading and crypto stocks investments but was discouraged by friends and family, I was being ignorant though
I have been trading for over 7months now with no good returns rather get loss account blown
You gotta see investors scared and loose funds due to ignorance
This is how the company I work for operates and everyone seems to enjoy their work. I know I do.
This new approach of doing things that matter looks really cool. The desire to get better and better at something that matters is what a lot of small business owners consider their number 1 why, which would explain why so many of them are more successful than they used to be in the past.
Great insightful presentation with many points to ponder about.
We will find the motivation to do work when we are intrinsically motivated, or, in other words, once we have discovered our passion and the purpose of doing what we are doing!
As he said... this is something most of us knows in our harts, and now science confirms it. Best part of the talk
I worked in a craft shop (in australia) our boss would just put us in a room filled with everything we needed & she would say you have all day to come up with some ideas to create a new product. We always came up with a few ideas instead of working on 1 product.It was rewarding.
Dan Pink!!! This is great!
if you want to motivate other people, first you have to start with loving yourself.
this theme also is on Eli`s book movie: the internal motivation versus external.
Thanks for sharing.
As I click like on this video, I wonder if liking a TED talk... goes without saying. This is just awesome stuff.
Real motivation stems from incentives. He makes the point that financial incentives dont work all the time. But that doesnt discount the power of incentives. Higher incentives in other forms can also help. The nature of incentives differs for different people. For him, its autonomy, mastery and purpose. For many businesses, it may be group work, regularity and fulfilling aspirations such as the Dabba wala case of Mumbai which is a case study in business courses...
It's an argument against commission and bonus based structures. But not against pay structure. There must be a mechanism for a company to get the right people on their team because top performers (even ok performers) are a scarce commodity. Motivating an employee after the hire is a separate issue entirely, and I feel people are confusing the 2. This is not an argument against wages.
fabulous. love it!
Great lessons for managers, and managing one's own life for achieving better performance and creative solutions.
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, and generally regarded as the most prestigious award for that field. The award's official name is The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (Swedish: Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne). The prize was established in 1968 by a donation from Sweden's central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank to the Nobel Foundation to commemorate the bank's 300th anniversary. As it is not one of the prizes that Alfred Nobel established in his will in 1895, it is not a Nobel Prize.
One thing that i've notice is that when is given to me a certain period of time to complete some work i become less motivated and the results are not as good as when i do it without the pressure of having to complete those things in time.
Love this guy
Awesome, must watch!