A New Operating System for Our Businesses

Just over a week ago, I had an opportunity to attend a TEDx event in Austin. It was one of those rare “shatter-any-remnants-of-small-thinking” kinds of days. One speaker after another spoke to us about big ideas ranging from overcoming cancer, to new space frontiers, to the advances in human genomics. Then came an afternoon talk made by Daniel Pink from the global TED conference about the surprising science of motivation. The whole discussion was compelling, but in the second half of his speech, he outlined the pillars of a new operating system for businesses that were absolute music to my Professional Destiny ears. These three fundamental concepts are:

Autonomy—The urge to direct our own lives
Mastery—The desire to get better and better in something that matters
Purpose—The yearning to do what we do in service larger than ourselves

Pink used what he called “true facts” to make the case that these intrinsic motivators work much better than the old fashioned carrot-and-stick approach that most companies still use.

Autonomy, mastery and purpose are part of the journey to your Professional Destiny. In my book, I discuss how people use their natural gifts to become masters at their chosen field, and how fulfilling it is to excel in something that really matters to you and others. Intrinsic motivation occurs when people can fully express their talent and become part of something larger. Here is a list of indicators from the first chapter that will help you recognize at the individual level when this happens:

• You are engaged
• You feel on track
• You feel honest
• You become lighter
• You are committed
• You operate with compassion
• You make a contribution
• You are fulfilled
• You make a difference

On the corporate level, the feeling of autonomy and empowerment is essential to keeping people engaged (see earlier post on Why Most Corporations Homogenize Remarkable People, Part 3: Empowerment vs. Marginalization). When people are fully engaged and properly motivated, inventions and breakthroughs occur. There is clearly a new model for business that works better than the old. And it’s great to see a lawyer, the London School of Economics and the Federal Reserve Bank all come together to make the case!

6 Comments March 2, 2010