Mr Pink has written several NY Times best sellers.
Mr Pink has a gift for taking complex subjects and making them come alive with story telling.
Scientists want humanity to use what works.
What activates learning motivation?
Decades of research has the answer.
Edward Deci for example, showed that extrinsic motivation can actually decrease intrinsic motivation — what is required to activate learning motivation.
Mr Deci co-founded Self-Determination Theory along with Richard Ryan.
The problem
Outside of academia, few knew how to activate learning motivation.
School districts, for example, continue to suppress learning motivation.
Enter Daniel H. Pink,
who guides the public to this knowledge.
Steps to success
In DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Mr Pink:
1. Starts from the beginning with the famous Candle Experiment.
2. Tells the story of discovering what actually motivates learning.
3. Summarizes the three conditions scientifically proven to activate learning motivation:
- Autonomy — which requires students to become able to self-direct.
- Mastery — challenges not too difficult or easy, in-the-zone, and fast feedback — which also requires students to become able to use autonomy to self-direct.
- Purpose — a good reason to learn something and/or an inner interest. Involving one’s own interests also requires students to become able to use autonomy to self-direct.
Notice:
Only with autonomy can students get the condition of mastery, challenges in their own learning zone.
Only with autonomy can students involve their own interests to activate the purpose drive.
The stakes
IF an organization applies the knowledge in DRIVE
THEN that organization gets better contributions from people.
For example:
IF school districts use Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose
THEN students’ natural drive to learn will be activated.
Alas, as of today, because school districts are still attempting to solve the wrong problem (get students to learn at the same pace), all three conditions of learning motivation are suppressed:
- Autonomy is withheld — Learn this. Stop. Now learn that.
- Challenges outside of mastery — Too difficult or too easy.
- Purpose unclear — Why am I sitting here listening to what I’ve already learned or can’t understand?