Thread by @mar15sa

Why extrinsic motivation might not be working for you:

"Carrots and Sticks: The Seven Deadly Flaws
1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation
2. They can diminish performance
3. They can crush creativity
4. They can crowd out good behavior

5. They can encourage cheating, shortcuts, and unethical behavior
6. They can become addictive
7. They can foster short-term thinking"

- Drive by @DanielPink

"The opposite of autonomy is control. And since they sit at different poles of the behavioral compass, they point us toward different destinations. Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement."

"For routine tasks, the sort of work that defined most of the twentieth century, gaining compliance usually worked just fine.

But that was then."

"One source of frustration in the workplace is the frequent mismatch between what people must do and what people can do. When what they must do exceeds their capabilities, the result is anxiety. When what they must do falls short of their capabilities, the result is boredom."

"Mastery is an asymptote. You can can approach it. You can home in on it. You can get really, really, really close to it. But... you can never touch it."

"The mastery asymptote is a source of frustration. Why reach for something you can never fully attain? But it's also a source of allure. Why not reach for it? The joy is in the pursuit more than the realization. In the end, mastery attracts precisely because mastery eludes."

"People at work are thirsting for context, yearning to know that what they do contributes to a larger whole. And a powerful way to provide that context is to spend a little less time telling how and a little more time showing why."

If you're a boss having trouble relinquishing control, try these 3 tips:

1. Involve people in goal-setting - "Individuals are far more engaged when they are pursuing goals they had a hand in creating"

2. Use non-controlling language - Use "think-about" or "consider" instead of "must" or "should"

3. Hold office hours - Let people come to you instead of always doing the summoning

'[A]sk yourself, "Is there one thing I can do tomorrow in my own domain to make things a little better?" The answer to that is almost always yes. Start small. Pile up small wins. And worry less about changing everything than about doing something.'