...War in the Office: A comparison of “Art of War” and “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us”. Many major theories and teachings from the non-business world can be learned and successfully applied just as effectively as those skills learned in the business work place. I became more and more convinced of this statement after reading two relatively similar books on the topics of War and personal success. Although both topics seem farfetched and distant from each other they happen to contain a lot of similar themes and ideas. Contrary to what the title suggests, the main point of the “Art of War” is to convince readers that in times of war or conflict, information and knowledge are the greatest weapons one can possess. Many individuals tend to look at the book in the wrong light simply due to the fact that it has the word “war” in its title. Scholars believe that the Art of War was written around 2,500 years ago. Sun Tsu (the author of the novel) was a high-ranking military general who took his endeavors as serious as any other high profile military figure. The business based novel I selected (book #2) to read is titled “Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us”. Drive is written by Daniel H. Pink, A critically acclaimed writer and Yale/NorthWestern university professor. While both books are similar and contain elements of non-fiction advise. “Drive’s” central argument is that “Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose” should be the three most practiced areas or fields...
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...Jennifer G English 1A Tiffany Higgins September 10, 2014 The Adventures of Johnny Bunko Daniel Pink presents many important lessons in The Adventures Of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need, which are secrets to being successful in life. Johnny Bunko is an average guy who is unhappy and unsatisfied with the career he has. Throughout the book, Pink states many good points and talks about being persistent and how people should focus on their strengths, not their weaknesses. Although I agree with Daniel Pink when he makes the point that in order to be successful you need to be persistence; I disagree when he states that people should focus on their strengths not their weaknesses, because in order to be successful you need to first focus on your weaknesses and improve them so you wont keep repeating the same mistake throughout your career. Summary: In The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, Daniel Pink using the character of Diana, argues that in order to have persistence you need to focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses. By all means, throughout the Six Lessons in The Adventures of Johnny Bunko the First Lesson Daniel Pink through the character of Diana mentions that “There is no plan.” Johnny is always tired which makes it hard for him to concentrate, so he struggles to get his work done on time. Johnny goes to lunch with his co workers and explains to them how when he opens the chopsticks “this person” who is Diana appears with magical powers. He then...
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...There are many existing theories and models that argue the various approaches to "what motivates us?" A few include Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs," (Starling, 2011) which encourages employers to enable their employee’s potential, Frederick Herzberg's job enrichment theory that addresses certain factors that cause satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work (Starling, 2011). In addition there's Elton Mayo's approach (Starling, 2011) to participative management that suggests workers are motivated when they believe that their organization or manager cares about them. Finally there is Dan Pink (2010) who proposes that money is not what motivates us, but “it’s the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world” (Daniel H. Pink Drive 2011). In his video, Dan Pink (2010), identifies these three factors as, Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. It’s interesting to note, that Maslow’s Hierarchy was developed during the 1940’s - 1950’s. Frederick Herzberg’s motivational theories were developed in 1959 and Elton Mayo’s studies were conducted between 1927 - 1932. I say this because their theories seem to be more pertinent today than ever. Money is important, but we all want and need more than compensation alone. There is a sense of fulfillment that needs to be reached that money can’t replace. People need to be recognized and feel they are part of a winning team or part of something that makes a difference. They...
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...Work-place Motivation: A Book Review on Drive Jessica Gutierrez Fresno Pacific University Work-place Motivation: A Book Review on Drive In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us; author Daniel Pink introduces two types of motivators that he refers to as “Human operating systems”. Times have changed, and business models are changing as well. When our computer software begins to fail, we look for upgrades and ways to improve it. Similarly, we need to upgrade our human operating systems when our current method has not kept up with the ever-changing business world. The concept of reward and punishment to encourage employees to be more productive, is an outdated way of managing people. In order to create a better work environment and increase productivity, we need to upgrade our idea of motivation to include autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Herzberg, a pioneer in motivation theory, determined that there are two factors that motivate employees; high-order needs and low-order needs. Those high-order needs are met by intrinsic motivation, such as fulfilling our personal needs and growth. Those needs include achievements, recognition, promotions, work itself, and responsibility. He refers to low-order needs as hygienic factors; those needs cannot motivate employees but can minimize dissatisfaction in the work-place. Hygienic factors include, pay, company guidelines, quality of supervision, working conditions, relationships with co-workers, and job security (Damij...
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...R-directed Thinking Most of us desire to become a lawyer, an accountant or a computer programmer because they are well paid and decent. But, this thought may be outdated. Daniel Pink in his book ‘ A Whole New Mind’ put forward that the future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. A new world in which “right brain” qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate will substitute for the era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age engendered. In this book, the author first starts to describe how our brains work from a high-level point of view. The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, a left and a right part. The author explains the differences between these two parts of our brains, stating that left-brain (L-directed) thinking implies more logical, linear reasoning while right-brain (R-directed) thinking is more holistic and artistic. The message that he is trying to bring across is that while society highly values L-directed thinking, R-directed thinking is getting more and more important in the world of tomorrow. Daniel divides L-directed thinking into three types: abundance, Asia and automation. Abundance has satisfied, even oversatisfied, the material needs of millions. They pursue the multifunctional goods. However, for business, it’s no longer enough to create a product that’s reasonably priced and adequately functional. Abundance have to pay more attention to beautiful, unique and meaningful to satisfied...
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...Introduction This report was limited only to data presented in the two reference videos. The candle experiment was design by a man named Karl Duncker in the year 1945. Karl Duncker was a psychologist. This puzzle is used in the field of behavioral science. The terms of reference used were two videos called “The puzzle of motivation” and a YouTube video called “Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us” by RSA Animate. This candle problem was repeated over the years in studies including students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a university in the United States. Method All data collected was Qualitative Data derived from the reference videos. The method of the experiment in the videos was very simple. You are presented with a puzzle. It is a photo that has a tray of thumbtacks, a candle, and a matchbook. The purpose of this puzzle is for you figure out how to attach the candle to the wall without getting wax on the table. Sam Glucksberg used Karl Duncker’s “Candle Problem”. This experiment was trying to gain insight about how people are affected by incentives. He took a large group of volunteers and put them into three separate groups. The groups were all given different incentives for the completion of the Candle Problem. He explained to one group that the experiment was to establish norms and averages for how long it takes for someone to solve this kind of problem. To a second group he told them they would be rewarded if they were in the top...
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...primary one for many employees. People are motivated by different things.Some employees have financial goals, others have professional goals while some have personal goals. The same incentives cannot work for all. This essay outlines some of the reasons why cash is not always a suitable motivator for excellent employees. Daniel Pink in his book “Drive”, convincingly argues that money does not motivate employees. Generally, people are motivated to work harder when they have the ability to work on their own terms. This is equally visible in Herzbergs two factor motivaton theory. In this theory, Herzberg points out that motivator factors such as the work itself,achievement, recognition, responsibility and opportunities for advancement and growth are the source of work satisfaction. Herzberg futher states that a salary is a hygiene factor and will not motivate people. Howerver, when the organisation links a monetary reward, such as a merit bonus to the recognition of good performance, it acts as a motivator. This is not to suggest that money doesn’t motivate, in fact, to underplay the importance of money and benefits as motivation for workers would be a mistake. Daniel Pink states in his book that employees expect to be paid fairly, but over-paying employers do little to motivate them to work harder towards achieving company goals. “money is highly motivational for people…but saying money is the only thing we shoukd use is also silly.” (Ian Larkin). Be it the expectancy theory or Maslows...
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...MGMT5323 – Research Project Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards & Motivation August 6, 2011 Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876. One of the most famous stories in the novel is whitewashing the fence. It was a chore that Tom’s aunt Polly had assigned him but Tom found a way to get others to do the work and his first convert was Ben. When Ben told Tom he was going swimming and stated “Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d druther work, wouldn’t you? Course you would!”. That was the start of a powerful lesson. Tom replied “Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t. All I know, is, it suites Tom Sawyer” and he informed Ben that is it was not every day that a boy gets a chance to whitewash a fence and then proceeded to convince Ben that it was a privilege and only a few boys were even capable of doing such a job. Now the situation changed and Ben was willing to give Tom his apple in exchange for a chance for him to have the privilege of whitewashing the fence. “Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. And while the late steamer Big Missouri worked and sweated in the sun, the retired artist sat on a barrel in the shade close by, dangled his legs, munched his apple, and planned the slaughter of more innocents. There was no lack of material; boys happened along every little while; they came to jeer, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was fagged out, Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a...
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...Raleigh and Rosse (R&R) is a retailer of luxury goods such as clothing, handbags, accessories, footwear, jewelry, fragrances, and watches, etc. R&R had a total of 38 stores in USA as of 2009. R&R has established a good reputation for its extraordinary customer service since 1920. Beginning in 1992, R&R began to use the firm’s “Ownership Culture” program. The heart of the Ownership Culture was SPH (Sale-Per-Hours), the system to measure sales performance such as weekly sales, weekly revenues, and a customer satisfaction metric. In 2002, the company was named one of the “Top 100 Employers to work for” by Fortune magazine. Between 1995 and 2007, R&R grew by more than 225%. However, in the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, this had a big impact on R&R, which revenues declined tremendously. Moreover, in 2007, Linda Watkins became the CEO of R&R. And later on in 2010, R&R sales associated filed a class action lawsuit under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Thus, Linda not only has to deal with the lawsuit but also has to build up the company’s image and reputation. (Simons, 2011) 1. What is the cause of the problems described in the case? How serious are these problems? How would you quantify the potential financial risk to R&R. The SPH program was the cause of the problems because it put a lot of pressure on store managers and sales. Even though this program stimulated the store managers and sales to work hard in order to be the...
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...sometimes actually experience a decline in motivation and productivity when external motivational strategies are overused, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. Incentive strategies attain varying degrees of success in increasing productivity, depending on the individual and the workplace environment. Incentives can be successful in selected workplaces where employees must complete mundane tasks. However, according to a 2010 PBS interview, studies have found that incentives often decrease motivation, especially in workplaces where employees must complete "creative conceptual tasks." For example, artists who work for the sheer joy of the art tend to be more productive than those whose work has been incentive. According to Daniel Pink, author of "Drive," which examines what motivates employees in the modern workplace, "To succeed in today's global economy, it's the fire within that must be lit." One of the most effective strategies for increasing productivity is...
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...Motivation. (People in organisation). There is no doubt that everyone has a different set of motives, which relate with personal needs and it manages the human behaviour. Moreover, as Daniel Pink (2009) stressed people also need acceptance, recognition, and self-esteem. In other words, he mentioned three basic human needs: acceptance, mastery, and purpose, which have a powerful influence on individual attitude and performance. What is motivation? Reece (2014) defines motivation as the influences that account for the initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of behaviour. In addition, psychologists notice four main categories, which include the number of possible motives. Among them are physiological factors/motives (need for food, water, and etc.), emotional factors (love, hate, fear, panic, and etc.), cognitive factors (personal beliefs, perceptions of the world), and finally, social factors (family, friends, media and other social forces). The motivation is two-dimensional; as a result, it could be internal/intrinsic or external/extrinsic. Through motivation I have achieved many different goals in my life, and still continue the developing of this the vital skill. That is to say, motives have been driven constantly my behaviour and a discussing of basic five characteristics of those motives with different theories, and at the same time using my life experience as an example, may be useful for the comprehending the sophisticated nature of motivation. Of these...
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...some situations and may not in another. They use examples from Sumo wrestlers and their own children. In addition, they conducted an experiment at a high school in Chicago Heights, Illinois to see if by giving students money in exchange for bringing their grades up. Because incentives is something that motivates one to do something; it sometimes could be used to illicit positive results. Daniel Pink wrote a book called, Drive, a title he used to as a synonym for motivation. Pink use to write speeches for vice president, Al Gore, while he was in office. Pink has done extensive research on motivation. He explains how there are two types of motivation, 1.0 and 2.0. Pink explains that motivation 1.0 was the primitive motivation that we had, when people were nomads and hunted and foraged for food, searched for security and finding mates. This was to simply take care of their most basic human necessities. As we evolved, we became motivated my rewards and punishment, what he called, carrots and sticks. The idea behind it is, ‘if/then’ rewards – if you do this, then you get that. However pink argues that, “those kinds of motivators work in certain circumstances, but they don’t work for creative and conceptual...
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...Prepare for Trading Series #1 - Motivation MOTIVATION Trading for any decent period of time is hard, really hard. If you want to trade to make a difference in your and your loved ones lives it is critically important to prepare for this hardship. An excellent point to start is to think about your motivation to trade. You would also like to keep that motivation going for a long period of time, seeing that trading is not only hard but also potentially very lucrative over time. To be clear, we aren’t currently concerned with goals and “how to succeed” at trading forex. Trading goals and implementing processes to achieve those goals aren’t motivation. That follows on being motivated to trade. There are different ‘levels’ of trading motivation. It is really important to know where you pitch up long before you begin to look for “trading systems”, “brokers one can trust” and “low spreads and high leverage”. So the million dollar question remains: WHY TRADING? Your answer will be unique. I think there might be some value in my unique story. Allow me to share it in short. Late in April 1998 I found myself sitting in a conference room of the small company I was a founding member and owner-manager of at that stage. We had some issues. With me were one of the other founding members and some people I knew very well who were in a process to buy me out. Although I didn’t know it until one had asked the question: “why don’t you take our offer of XYZ rand”? Imagine my surprise...
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...“You were so drunk, baby. So, so, so, drunk. All your friends, well I wouldn’t call them friends, left you and you had no ride home. You let me drive you back.” Rebecca remembered nothing of that night, but she did remember the wire-taps in the house. She couldn’t stand to her held by this man any longer, in fact every second he held on to her the more she felt like she had bugs crawling up her arms, but getting him to talk about what he did was her best chance of getting him arrested. Even though his speech was slurred from his obvious alcohol problem and hard to understand at times, there was a chance that Officer Erickson would check in on the taps. Besides, if he was going to do anything with her, she wanted to at least know why. “What else happened that night? Did we…?” she asked, trying to sound as sincere as anyone could when they are trying to repress tears. The thought that she...
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...happy or satisfied with their jobs, employers or roles within their organizations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were over 3.6 million open positions on the last business day of 2012, with a quit rates ranging from 3 to 6% in 2012. What is the cause of such unhappiness within the work place, causing us to walk away from paying jobs, in an economy struggling to recover from a major economic recession? In this paper we will look at what employees find motivating in a work environment and how to drive engagement and company loyalty. Why employers need to deliver on their promise to invest in, and promote employees from within, what kind of quality’s employers should look for when interviewing for promotions, and why it would be beneficial for employers to build healthy working environments. When New Generations Enter the Workforce As a child, I remember overhearing my grandparents discussing the teenage girl who lived down the street. She had a pink streak in her hair, walked around with headphones on her head, would blare the music in her car and had a nose piercing. My grandparents were mortified, and were just certain that “this younger generation will be the death of us”. As each new generation enters adulthood, we bring with us certain characteristics and qualities unique to our generation. This includes changes in communication styles, personal motivators, and life style priorities. These changes become especially apparent as each generation enters the...
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