The mismatch between what science knows and what business does

The best way to motivate your employees, especially creative types, may be to not motivate them at all. Rather, our goal as leaders should be to help people discover their own intrinsic motivation.

In the TED talk above and in his book Drive, Dan Pink shares the counterintuitive findings of researchers who discovered that when people are paid to accomplish a task, they are actually less efficient than those who do it for free.

Does this mean "stop paying employees?" No. It does mean consider where your employees find motivation. Are you trying to give it to them? Or are they discovering it within themselves? Only the latter really works.

Pink notes that people derive their motivation from three main areas:

• Autonomy
• Mastery
• Purpose

The key, Pink says, is to inspire intrinsic motivation, which is self-directed. "It is devoted to becoming better and better at something that matters. And it connects that quest for excellence to a larger purpose." Our friend Kevin will appreciate that.

Pink says intrinsic motivation "emerges when people have autonomy over the four T’s: their task, their time, their technique, and their team." That is, what they do, when they do it, how they do it, and with whom. The more latitude you can give in these areas, the happier your workers will be.

Ideally our deepest, best motivation will come not from external rewards, but from the highest source.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.—Colossians 3:23-24