Richard Ryan, one of the behavioral scientists whose research figures prominently in Drive, thinks you might be, according to a recently released paper. But the reason for this “weekend effect” isn’t leisure, he says. It’s autonomy most of all — as well as the satisfaction that comes from emotional relationships. On Saturdays and Sundays, he […]
This weekend’s Parade magazine features an interesting interview with mega-star Harrison Ford. To my surprise, Ford spends little time talking about mega-ness or stardom. Instead, the carpenter-turned-actor offers some very keen insights on human motivation, especially the elusive and frustrating nature of mastery. “When I was a carpenter, I once worked with this Russian lady
The way ideas spread is pretty simple: Conversation by conversation. One engaged person talks with another engaged person — and out of that daisy chain of human interactions come new ways to navigate our lives. One of the best and most enduring forums for conversation is public radio. And in the past week, I’ve had
Stuck on an airplane this morning, I had a chance to read today’s New York Times almost from cover to cover. (Ink on paper is a pretty good technology, no? — Ed.) Five stories, most of them small and easily overlooked, made me think, smile, or wince. 1. Person of the day. When retailer H&M
High on the growing list of endangered media species is long-form magazine journalism. In a world of 140-character updates and 60-second video clips, do we have the attention span (and the business model) to sustain carefully-crafted 5,000-word articles? I sure hope so. Because even in a tough environment, there’s some great work coming out of
And so it begins. Today is the day that DRIVE officially launches. Here’s what I know from previous books: These ideas will spread solely because of people like you — intelligent, forward-thinking, optimistic folks who know that the way the world really changes is conversation by conversation. If you’re up for the challenge, here are
Andy Smallman, head of the Puget Sound Community School in Seattle, has come up with a social innovation that’s ingenious, inspiring, and infectious. He calls it “kindness class.” Each week students in the online course get an assignment. In week one, they do something kind for themselves. In week two, they do something kind for
“The really good people want autonomy — you let me do it, and I’ll do it. . . . That’s all they want. They want a chance to do it.” — Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental in today’s NY Times
(A “video excerpt” of Drive, created by the fantabulous Lindsey Testolin.)
Harvard professor Teresa Amabile, whose transformative work I describe in Drive, has a fascinating piece in the (newly revamped) Harvard Business Review, which is just hitting newsstands. Amabile tracked the day-to-day activities and motivations of several hundred workers over a few years and found that their greatest motivation isn’t external incentives, but something different: Making
