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DanPink:thepuzzleofmotivation0:12Ineedtomakeaconfessionattheoutsethere.Alittleover20yearsago,IdidsomethingthatIregret,somethingthatI'mnotparticularlyproudof.Somethingthat,inmanyways,Iwishnoonewouldeverknow,buthereIfeelkindofobligedtoreveal.0:30(Laughter)0:32Inthelate1980s,inamomentofyouthfulindiscretion,Iwenttolawschool.0:39(Laughter)0:44InAmerica,lawisaprofessionaldegree:afteryouruniversitydegree,yougoontolawschool.WhenIgottolawschool,Ididn'tdoverywell.Toputitmildly,Ididn'tdoverywell.I,infact,graduatedinthepartofmylawschoolclassthatmadethetop90%possible.1:03(Laughter)1:07Thankyou.Ineverpracticedlawadayinmylife;Iprettymuchwasn'tallowedto.1:15(Laughter)1:18Buttoday,againstmybetterjudgment,againsttheadviceofmyownwife,Iwanttotrytodustoffsomeofthoselegalskills--what'sleftofthoselegalskills.Idon'twanttotellyouastory.Iwanttomakeacase.Iwanttomakeahard-headed,evidence-based,dareIsaylawyerlycase,forrethinkinghowwerunourbusinesses.1:46So,ladiesandgentlemenofthejury,takealookatthis.Thisiscalledthecandleproblem.Someofyoumightknowit.It'screatedin1945byapsychologistnamedKarlDuncker.Hecreatedthisexperimentthatisusedinmanyotherexperimentsinbehavioralscience.Andhere'showitworks.SupposeI'mtheexperimenter.Ibringyouintoaroom.Igiveyouacandle,somethumbtacksandsomematches.AndIsaytoyou,Yourjobistoattachthecandletothewallsothewaxdoesn'tdripontothetable.Nowwhatwouldyoudo?2:20Manypeoplebegintryingtothumbtackthecandletothewall.Doesn'twork.Isawsomebodykindofmakethemotionoverhere--somepeoplehaveagreatideawheretheylightthematch,meltthesideofthecandle,trytoadhereittothewall.It'sanawesomeidea.Doesn'twork.Andeventually,afterfiveortenminutes,mostpeoplefigureoutthesolution,whichyoucanseehere.2:45Thekeyistoovercomewhat'scalledfunctionalfixedness.Youlookatthatboxandyouseeitonlyasareceptacleforthetacks.Butitcanalsohavethisotherfunction,asaplatformforthecandle.Thecandleproblem.2:59Iwanttotellyouaboutanexperimentusingthecandleproblem,donebyascientistnamedSamGlucksberg,whoisnowatPrincetonUniversity,US,Thisshowsthepowerofincentives.3:11Hegatheredhisparticipantsandsaid:I'mgoingtotimeyou,howquicklyyoucansolvethisproblem.Toonegrouphesaid,I'mgoingtotimeyoutoestablishnorms,averagesforhowlongittypicallytakessomeonetosolvethissortofproblem.3:25Tothesecondgroupheofferedrewards.Hesaid,Ifyou'reinthetop25%ofthefastesttimes,yougetfivedollars.Ifyou'rethefastestofeveryonewe'retestingheretoday,youget20dollars.Nowthisisseveralyearsago,adjustedforinflation,it'sadecentsumofmoneyforafewminutesofwork.It'sanicemotivator.3:47Question:Howmuchfasterdidthisgroupsolvetheproblem?3:52Answer:Ittookthem,onaverage,threeandahalfminuteslonger.3.5minlonger.Thismakesnosense,right?Imean,I'manAmerican.Ibelieveinfreemarkets.That'snothowit'ssupposedtowork,right?4:08(Laughter)4:09Ifyouwantpeopletoperformbetter,yourewardthem.Right?Bonuses,commissions,theirownrealityshow.Incentivizethem.That'showbusinessworks.Butthat'snothappeninghere.You'vegotanincentivedesignedtosharpenthinkingandacceleratecreativity,anditdoesjusttheopposite.Itdullsthinkingandblockscreativity.4:33What'sinterestingaboutthisexperimentisthatit'snotanaberration.Thishasbeenreplicatedoverandoveragainfornearly40years.Thesecontingentmotivators--ifyoudothis,thenyougetthat--workinsomecircumstances.Butforalotoftasks,theyactuallyeitherdon'tworkor,often,theydoharm.Thisisoneofthemostrobustfindingsinsocialscience,andalsooneofthemostignored.5:04Ispentthelastcoupleofyearslookingatthescienceofhumanmotivation,particularlythedynamicsofextrinsicmotivatorsandintrinsicmotivators.AndI'mtellingyou,it'snotevenclose.Ifyoulookatthescience,thereisamismatchbetweenwhatscienceknowsandwhatbusinessdoes.5:20What'salarminghereisthatourbusinessoperatingsystem--thinkofthesetofassumptionsandprotocolsbeneathourbusinesses,howwemotivatepeople,howweapplyourhumanresources--it'sbuiltentirelyaroundtheseextrinsicmotivators,aroundcarrotsandsticks.That'sactuallyfineformanykindsof20thcenturytasks.Butfor21stcenturytasks,thatmechanistic,reward-and-punishmentapproachdoesn'twork,oftendoesn'twork,andoftendoesharm.Letmeshowyou.5:51Glucksbergdidanothersimilarexperiment,hepresentedtheprobleminaslightlydifferentway,likethisuphere.Attachthecandletothewallsothewaxdoesn'tdripontothetable.Samedeal.You:we'retimingfornorms.You:we'reincentivizing.6:07Whathappenedthistime?Thistime,theincentivizedgroupkickedtheothergroup'sbutt.Why?Becausewhenthetacksareoutofthebox,it'sprettyeasyisn'tit?6:24(Laughter)6:26If-thenrewardsworkreallywellforthosesortsoftasks,wherethereisasimplesetofrulesandacleardestinationtogoto.Rewards,bytheirverynature,narrowourfocus,concentratethemind;that'swhytheyworkinsomanycases.So,fortaskslikethis,anarrowfocus,whereyoujustseethegoalrightthere,zoomstraightaheadtoit,theyworkreallywell.6:50Butfortherealcandleproblem,youdon'twanttobelookinglikethis.Thesolutionisontheperiphery.Youwanttobelookingaround.Thatrewardactuallynarrowsourfocusandrestrictsourpossibility.7:03Letmetellyouwhythisissoimportant.InwesternEurope,inmanypartsofAsia,inNorthAmerica,inAustralia,white-collarworkers