Daniel Pink, the author of the book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about what motivates us is an exceptional writer that does fantastic empirical research from various professors of psychology in multiple universities about the topic of intrinsic motivation. In his book, he exposes the mismatch that exists in the use of external rewards to motivate certain kind of behavior. He asserts that the use of rewards often leads to the display of the desired behavior once the award is withdrawn. He further posits that the current business operating system focuses entirely on carrot-and-stick motivators that often do not work. Instead, he stresses the importance of autonomy, mastery, and purpose in achieving intrinsic motivation. This paper examines how the book can be applied in an education perspective.
The current education system continues to be increasingly regulated. This means that students and teachers are expected to fit into some pre-conceived expectations. These expectations include students attaining higher scores, higher retention rates in schools and higher attendance. For this to be achieved, school principals are forced to micromanage teachers in charge of them, who on the other hand micromanage the students they teach. While this kind of aspect may have positive outcomes, it does have negative implications. High ability and talented students may not have an opportunity to pursue their interests. This is because there are strict guidelines on what subjects are supposed to be taught at a particular time. On the other hand, average students can fit into the cookie-cutter expectations, but their creativity is often pushed aside. Students who are intellectually challenged are forced to keep up with the rest of the class. The three elements such as autonomy, purpose, and mastery by Daniel Pink will be used to explain how school administrators can drive innovation and performance as compared to the carrots and sticks strategy.
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Introduction
Edward Pink introduction kicks off with stories and experiments of Harry Harlow Puzzle and Edward Deci who built various laboratories to study the behavior of primates. They did a puzzle that worked by pulling the straw and dislocating the hook to use the platform. When the problem was placed in the cage that the monkeys were in, they seem fascinated and tried playing with the puzzle without any compulsion. They were able to solve the mystery without any problem. Mainstream science explained this as the desire to achieve biological needs (Pink, 2011). This is because human beings perform specific activities to satisfy their needs such as hunger and thirst.
According to Harlow, the solving of the puzzle did not satisfy any biological need, but it was motivated by the rewards and punishments one gets from own environment. For instance, if one is promised a higher salary, they are likely to work. If the awards are withdrawn, they are likely to slow down (Pink, 2011). This theory of Harlow did not apply to Pink, but he tried explaining with a new form of motivation, intrinsic reward. The monkey solved the puzzle merely because they wanted to learn how it works and the joy that comes with solving the problem. Adding any compensation especially food would lead to the monkey performing better, but they made more mistakes. The finding, therefore, undermined the notion of motivation when it comes to rewards and punishments.
Carrot and Stick Strategy
According to Pink (2011), this kind of method of using rewards to encourage high performance is known as carrot and sticks. The carrot and stick is not a wrong method. This is because individuals need to be paid for work done to perform well. However, when money is used as a primary motivator or an external reward for an activity, the individual loses interest in the business. Awards are not long-term boosts for achieving behaviors since the effects wear off fast. Also, they decrease a person's motivation to continue with the activity. Pink offers various explanations as to why the carrots and sticks do not work effectively.
One of the reasons is the intrinsic motivation which focuses on rewards in performing specific activities. An experiment was conducted in kindergarten school going kids to see what would happen if rewards were offered to activities they certainly enjoyed. The kids were required to draw some diagrams. Some of them were picked and offered some diploma before starting to bring while the others were not offered anything. After two weeks the same activity was repeated, but the children offered the diplomas did not draw good diagrams as expected while the second group did their best even after not receiving any reward. In the school setting, we should try encouraging the kids to perform their best for a longer-term purpose rather than a short term-purpose for them not to lose interest in specific activities in the long run. This also applies to the teachers.
It is often difficult to measure whether a performance was as a result of the rewards given to an individual. According to Pink(2011), research conducted by economists led by Dan Ariely in a center in India showed that financial incentive could lead to a negative impact on overall performance. In a school setting, people often rely on financial incentives to make teachers perform effectively. These kinds of excuses are meant to encourage teachers to work hard for the students to score grade A in various subjects. This does not necessarily mean that the students have mastered everything that is required in the issues. Besides, it does not say that by scoring a higher grade they have improved their capabilities. This assumes that the financial incentives did help the students achieve their purpose in the long run but only on a short-term basis.
Pink (2011), also asserts that the carrots and sticks strategy has an undesirable effect on creative thinking. Rewards naturally narrow our focus and purpose in life. Individuals are likely to use various shortcuts to achieve their goals quickly which may have the outcome of blocking creative thinking hence reducing performance. Research conducted in multiple school setting showed that teachers who are less-oriented on rewards and have more intrinsic engagement had students who had higher performance. School administrators should apply this strategy, but they should make sure that the teachers are highly compensated to enable pay basic needs for them.
The carrot and stick approach may work with routine tasks, but specific rules must be followed to achieve the desired performance. In the school setting, complex situations often arise requiring flexible solutions. It is therefore essential for school administrators to come up with other ways of intrinsic motivations that stir creativity rather than using financial incentives.
Carrots and stick strategy also many times triggers what is known as altruistic behavior. This behavior came about from research that examined the impact of blood donation when monetary system was involved. Majority of people decided to donate when financial incentives were not involved but to have a good feeling as most of the blood donated would go to children in foster care. In the school setting, school administrators should ensure that they are not mixing eternal rewards with activities that seem interesting to the students and the teachers. This because the rewards may do more damage than good in limiting the things that activity was supposed to achieve.
Carrots and sticks often encourage unethical behavior. To achieve high performance, it is assumed that most individuals are likely to use tricks and shortcuts to get the reward. Most school instructors may doctor student’s transcripts with good results for them to get bonuses that are associated with high performance. Besides, the high performance may translate to more enrolment of classes hence better pay. Intrinsic motivation as described by Pink may not fit into this model. Since the reward is supposed to encourage more learning, making the student happy and aspiring to do the best without shortcuts.
Lastly, the carrots and stick strategy is also very addictive. According to Pink, when a student is paid to engage in a particular activity, there is a higher probability that the student will not do it again for free. Similarly, there is a higher likelihood that the pay increases for the student to continue complying. In the school setting, teachers should encourage engaged behavior as compared to compliant behavior. In the involved conduct, the students do not have to receive any reward for any activity. Besides, they do not have to be controlled or managed to perform specific tasks. To ensure this happen, Pink asserts that it is essential to increase their degree of autonomy on how, when and where they do it. For the school administrator, management does not necessarily mean giving out many rules. It also says that they create an environment that both the teachers and students have some freedom in the order they can move towards mastery of various things.
Situations that Carrots and Stick can Work
Pink(2011), asserts that carrot and Stick strategy works in algorithmic tasks. These are tasks that do not require much thinking and are not quite interesting for students. In schools, every activity is associated with some rewards. Teachers should be able to determine which events appear to be boring for the students and how they can motivate them to perform better. This is through engaging with them to decide how they want it done.
The Three Elements
Autonomy
According to Pink (2011) autonomy is the essential aspect of intrinsic motivation. What he refers to independence is the desire to work independently and direct our own lives. For teachers to achieve the highest level of engagement between them and the students, they must have the freedom on how they do things, when they do it and who they do it with. In the educational environment, one of the most excellent tools that take into consideration the autonomy aspect is the Result-only –Work –Environment. This strategy does not look into the quantity of time spent but rather the quality of results achieved. According to Pink, the model gives students the opportunity to be creative and explore their various talents. The teachers are not necessarily expected to be in their aspect of the student lives but can give guidance and instructions on how particular tasks are supposed to be done. Pink asserts that if this model is applied effectively, the productivity increases, employees feel satisfied and turnover decreases.
According to Pink (2011), autonomy does not mean that individuals should not be accountable for their actions, but they should be responsible for their work. Besides, developing this kind of intrinsic motivation is quite a hard task as compared to the carrots and sticks. This is because the school administrators especially the principal must ensure they develop contact with the teachers on a personal level. The teachers must also have a personal relationship with the students to be able to identify their strengths and the incentive models they can best apply.
Mastery
Mastery is also the second most essential element in achieving intrinsic motivation in schools. Mastery refers to the urge to progress and produce something better. According to.. tasks include activities that are not too difficult are too easy. If a function is too easy for students, they are likely to get bored as there is nothing that motivates them. On the other hand, if it is challenging, they will get frustrated and anxious. Dealing with challenging tasks often pushes people to a slightly higher level in trying to find the solutions. This is a crucial element of success in schools because mastery begins with the urge to get something through various unconventional means.
In the school setting, the degree of standardization in various school tasks often results in lack of creativity. School administrators and teachers need to create functions that aim at improving students intellectual abilities. This will help them in moving towards greater mastery. For instances, student's homework should be customized depending on their strengths, as every student has a different level of understanding from the other.
Purpose
The final element of intrinsic motivation according to Pink is the purpose. Meaning refers to the yearning to do what we do to accomplish something lager that ourselves (Pink, 2011). This can be anything from some significant contribution to the society, getting good grades and living the best life we would want for ourselves. Traditionally, teachers have viewed as to get into the teaching profession with the aim of making a lot of money. However, some get into the business to make a positive impact on the lives of the students. School administrators should try to ignite this aspect in enhancing motivation. Research shows that it can be a real performance enhancer in schools.
As for students, studies conducted revealed that people are likely to perform a task better, whether it's a quadratic equation or playing the piano, if they are doing it for the first time and place. A school is a place in which students learn various aspects including writing, reading and solving problems. Teachers should explain to students the purpose of performing certain kind of tasks. If a student is studying statistics and probability, the teacher should explain that learning that will make him or her better investor. If the student is not interested, the teacher should come up with something else that will help them achieve their purpose in life.
In conclusion, the paper has given a book review of Drive: The Surprising Truth about What motivates us by Danie Pink outlining the fundamental aspects of intrinsic motivation. The article has delved mostly on the educational system especially the school setting that is built mainly around the system of rewards and punishment, hence the need for the reconstruction. By using the carrots and sticks strategy, I have explained how the system might not work in a school setting as it does not only encourages unethical behavior but also decreases performances and stifles productivity. In order to, therefore, create a productive working environment, schools should promote autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Reference
Pink, D. H. (2011). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us . Penguin.
