Daniel's Revolution

Daniel Pink

    In the A-Z blogging challenge D is for Daniel.  I know, you think I'm I was going Old Testament and there's a leadership, vision and faith story.  The second half would be correct though.  I'm in love with Daniel Pink and look forward to his new book the is fall.  His work and his story are absolutely worth paying considerable attention to.   If you haven't read A Whole New Mind or Drive, or seen the videos on YouTube, you need to.  Today.  There's one below.

     I had hoped to get Mr. Pink (not to be confused in any sense with Reservoir Dogs) on the morning talk show recently when I filled in for Pat Moody at WSJM but he's in the midst of writing his next book.  In the fall he promised as schedules allow.

     Hopefully when it's out later this summer or early fall I will then. The Drive video (below) in particular by RSA Animate is tremendously helpful because they do such a cool job of white boarding his talk, doubling (or more) the impact on our comprehension.  You see, behavioral economics, psychology and sociology, in thousands and thousands of studies around the globe tell us four key things about how the world is changing. Constantly.

1. Right brainers will rule the future (I think Howard Gardner would agree).
2. Money isn't the primary motivator for performance unless  you're doing the most menial of tasks (like making iPhones and iPads in China).  No it's Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose that really move us toward innovation, improvement and success.  Far too many American business and government leaders are still operating on the model coming out of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.  Which by the way is really outdated and mostly irrelevant.  Quickly defining A.M.P?

• We want some say in how we do our work - Autonomy
• We want to get better at it, as well as other skills - Mastery
• And there needs to be a greater purpose that benefits society - Purpose

     Well, maybe that's five things.  Regardless, there are way too many organizations who haven't got a clue about this.  That's why according to Gallup over 70% of the American workforce is either not engaged in their jobs or fully disengaged.  That's not quite a positive sign for productivity, innovation, or competitiveness.
    

     Let the revolution begin I say. If  America's going to continue to compete and be a global leader, those in positions of authority and responsibility have to wake up to what science has to say about our teams and organizations.  

     Look what Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has accomplished in three years by plucking 24 or so new leaders from below the old hierarchy while abandoning the former penthouse CEO suites that separated leadership from engaging the team.  Here's the Marchionne interview from 60 Minutes. Pay particular attention to the discussion about the being on the same floor as the engineers because he's absolutely right.