Quote: "...but they found that enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver." (pg.21)
Epiphany: There are no shortcuts in deepening your learning and doing your best. Only you know if you are cutting yourself short.
Quote: "Intrinsic motivation is of great importance for all economic activities. It is inconceivable that people are motivated solely or even mainly by external incentives." (pg.27)
Connection: One example of intrinsic motivation that Pink gives, is the idea that we do some things because it is "good". I believe that all people are innately good and want to do what is right. Pink gives the example of donating blood. It has been discussed that people should be paid to donate blood and that would hopefully motivate more people to donate. When research was done, the opposite was true. By paying people to donate blood, they are no longer doing something that is altruistic and genuinely good, so they lose the motivation. I frequently donate blood because I think it is the right thing to do. If the blood bank offered me ten dollars to donate my blood it seems to somehow take away from that "good deed".
Quote: "Intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity; controlling extrinsic motivation is detrimental to creativity." (pg. 29)
Question: Why do we become so narrow minded and less creative when offered a reward for our efforts?
Quote: "...adding certain kinds of extrinsic rewards on top of inherently interesting tasks can often dampen motivation and diminish performance." (pg. 29)
Question: When your offer a reward for doing a task, then a person is going to expect a reward every time they perform that task. This made me think of the "class jobs" in my classroom. My students do the class jobs because they want to and it's "fun". How can we use this same model with children doing chores in the home? I don't want my kids to be expected to be paid two dollars every time I ask them to take out the trash.
Connection: The text gives an example of parents who feel badly when they pick up their children late from daycare because they have a relationship with the teacher and don't want to be rude or take up their time. When the daycare decided to start fining parents for being late, the parents no longer felt bad for the teacher, and their tardies actually increased rather than decreased. I connected to this because we have this same policy at my school and rather than encouraging parents to be on time, it actually upset them and gave them this "I don't care if I'm late, they're going to charge me anyway" attitude. Punishments are not good motivators!
Quote: "In other words, rewards can perform a weird sort of behavioral alchemy: They can transform an interesting task into a drudge. The can turn play into work. And by diminishing intrinsic motivation, they can send performance, creativity, and even upstanding behavior toppling like dominoes. Let's call this the Sawyer effect." (pg. 35)
Epiphany: This part of the chapter tells a story of when Tom Sawyer tricks some neighborhood boys into painting a fence for him. He convinced the boys that painting the fence was a "privilege" and that it was a fun task to do. Once something is considered "fun", people are more motivated to participate. With that, once something is deemed "work" it can no longer be playful or enjoyable.
Connection: This is embarrassing to admit, but I am the kind of person that really does not like being told what to do. If something is "my idea" or I am motivated on my own than I have a completely different attitude about the task.
Question: How can we help people/students to see projects/tasks from a "fun" perspective, rather than a "work" perspective?
Epiphany: Carrots and sticks (extrinsic motivators) can have detrimental outcomes.
1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation
2. They can diminish performance
3. They can crush creativity.
4. They can crowd out good behavior
5. They can encourage cheating, shortcuts, and unethical behavior.
6. They can become addictive.
7. They can foster short-term thinking.
How can we promote intrinsic motivation in school and support students in delighting in their work?