Individual: Seeks autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Most motivated (and happy) when pursuing intrinsic rewards. A person is most committed when she can set her own goals and pick her own team to work with.
Environment: Favors extrinsic motivation through carrots and sticks - bonuses, vacation time, salary increases, promotion, demotion, etc. Sets up strict rules/procedures in hopes of limiting the chaotic actions of untrustworthy personnel.
In Drive, Daniel Pink gives a few example of forward thinking companies that treat their employees just a little differently.
Whole Foods: Let's store employees make new hire decisions,
Netflix: Allows for unlimited vacation days as long as the work is covered.
Tom's: Donates a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair sold.
3M: Sets aside 20% of the work week for employees to work on projects of their choosing.
All of these companies exhibit certain behaviors to support autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I'm proud to say that the company I work for now does a lot to supports these behaviors as well. So much so that I often feel like the agent that is reintroducing rules and procedures. It's a challenging balance, but a rewarding one as well.
Thanks Daniel Pink for reminding me to take advantage of opportunities to promote autonomy, mastery, and purpose within my life/organization.
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