I was ordered to punish, to write up offenders so we would have the necessary documentation to fire them later. I was told I should punish mistakes, rule violations, errors in judgment, simple slip-ups. And of course, true intentional violations.

I resisted. Big time. That’s another story.

My belief was (is) that at work most people want to do well, want to be successful and want to be respected by peers and supervisors. In fact most workers know when they screw up, are sorry and try to avoid another mistake.

As a supervisor, I continued to treat people with respect. They got the benefit of the doubt and unless it was a very serious problem, they got at least one pass.

Motivation? Firefighters will perform heroically to satisfy their own need to succeed and to keep the respect of their supervisors. Dennis Leger, Crabbyoldrunner

It’s simple but revolves around making meaning, impact, and growth. The beauty is that it’s timeless (I think it’s from the 70′s or earlier.)

The most important surprise for me in figuring out real motivation was “link it to good feelings.” I also didn’t realize how crucial it is that it’s changing state in the moment vs. after the fact (but that we can re-assign meaning, which can re-wire our thoughts which can re-wire our feelings.)

Another big surprise for me was the interplay between will, self-discipline, motivation (pain/pleasure) and why you do what you do. I finally connected the dots and found that a little knowledge goes a long way, and what you don’t know can hurt you.

Motivation is just too cool — knowing how to push your own buttons and be a self-starter and defeat learned helplessness is a crucial skill for the best of our lives.

A shift to intrinsic as opposed to extrinsic motivators is simply one example of many positive changes to our collective mindset – an increased commitment to happiness, and a strengthening resilience to compromise.

In this decade, we will see much of these beliefs actualize in both business, and our personal relationships.

I’m excited!

Kudos to you two – I’m going to order Drive from Amazon right now (and yes, Jonathan, I’m using the affiliate link provided). Good work deserves to be rewarded, I think. Or is that too Motivation 2.0 for you guys?

We do what FEELS good. Right. That’s the motivation for us all. And if we keep moving towards this, our lives unfold. Funny how increasingly ‘new age’ thinking blends with hard research. This is going to be an amazing decade.

Another inspiring book to add to my early 2010 ‘must read’ list.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by nickusborne: Excellent. RT @jonathanfields: Talking Motivation With Bestselling Author @DanielPink… http://is.gd/5LU8k...