We’re Not Horses
Seth Godin and Daniel Pink are probably my two favourite biz thinkers. So naturally I get excited when they link up. Both promoting relatively new books, Linchpin and Drive, here’s an excerpt from their recent interview:
PINK: …What I think is going on is that until recently, the business world didn’t much prize people with these kinds of skills [poets, painters and playwrights]. So if you wanted to do those things, you weren’t going to get paid much. Today, these right-brain types are much more in demand. That said, there are maybe fourteen people on the planet who are going to make a living as poets. But, again, there are maybe a million who can use their talents as poets in work as teachers, copywriters, bloggers, journalists, and other professions and business centered on creation.
GODIN: Do you agree with me that every successful organization needs people like this today? Problem solvers, self-drivers, artists?
PINK: Of course. Not even a close call.
GODIN: How then do we merge the two motivations? How do we get people to bring their artist to work?
PINK: Stop treating people like horses and start treating them like human beings. Instead of trying to bribe folks with sweeter carrots or threaten them with sharpen sticks, how about giving them greater freedom at work, allowing them to get better at something they love, and infusing the workplace with a sense of purpose? If we tap that third drive more fully, we can rejuvenate our businesses and remake our world.
HER NATURE HIS NURTURE 