Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us

by Daniel H. Pink

(Riverside, 2009)

Having been in small business for so long, I’m always facing issues of self-motivation: my drive to do my part in making a good bookstore; my drive to continue my book selling actualization while wanting to reaffirm the quality and customer service of my staff. To enhance my “mo,” I picked up Drive from my unread pile (which is too large) to explore.

Drive begins by reflecting on on the work of Abraham Maslow whose humanistic psychology was the beginning foundation of my earliest business concepts. Young, inexperienced, really stupid, and with no training, I started Lemuria, hoping one day to experience a degree of self-actualization from my work life.

Daniel H. Pink emphasizes creativity in the workplace. The role of management is to provide an environment that maximizes  the intrinsic reward, not just financial. Pink analyzes worker rewards, stressing the need for employees to have the freedom to be creative. Work pleasure is not just solely determined by the dollar. Work fulfillment can be enlightening.

All of us want to meet our basic needs as we make decisions about financial goals. After certain monetary needs are met, however, we need to ask ourselves: How much is enough? How is our individual fulfillment going to be obtained?

Pink applies Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s flow concepts to the work environment. Being = creative flow provides maximum creation. A situation forming the maximum creative fire emerges and burns, thus providing an elevated work high.

Work is hard with so many monotonous demands put on time and energy. For me, self-motivation can be routine. However, when the lines of creativity cross with the correct business perceptions, activating the success button, job gratification occurs beyond words. At this point, internal smiles emerge.

My life’s drive has been reinforced by reading Pink’s Drive. Readdressing your value system is healthy–not in a rigid way, but with a peace of mind. For me, that peace of mind comes from the quieter moments spent with a drink on my porch, reflecting on the gratifying benefit of providing services and a lifestyle to loved ones. In those moments work results in a happiness high.

Lemuria, our bookstore, is facing a challenging book-selling climate. It’s fun to think about all of the humanistic reasons that brought Lemuria into being. The future is now, a time for all Lemurians to explore the creative force within.

Lemuria’s actualization has currently plateaued. Reading Drive, however, has made me want to redefine our goals and find our next plateau. Reading Drive could help keep the Lemuria book-selling wagon on the trail.

I can suggest Drive to readers  who are looking for reaffirmation and have a desire to enhance their dedication to work and purpose.

 

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