TED talk on Motivation

Love this TED talk from Dan Pink on motivation.

He talks about how modern knowledge workers are more successful when motivated by things other than financial incentives.
The things that matter, he describes as

• Autonomy
• Mastery
• Purpose

I totally buy this. In fact its a strong part of the DNA of the team I work with at LucasArts. We have a very flat heirarchy that encourages autonomy. Because we are a small team we are constantly pushing people to stretch and be excellent in there craft. And we also all buy into a common purpose that puts the quality of the final product above individual achievements. I think its a strong reason why the team has stayed together for so long and loves working with each other.

To be clear, Dan is not saying financial is unimportant. It's important to get fair compensation for work, but after that threshold has been achieved, the autonomy, mastery and purpose are what is important. It's the age old corollary that money can't buy happiness.

Great read for any aspiring entrepreneurs or indie startups thinking about how to attract and retain talent.