PowerPoint slides. Author Daniel Pink agrees that they are by far one of the dullest forms of presentation. Yet of all of the TED Talks I have seen so far, Pink has been the only one to utilize a PowerPoint in his speech. Thankfully, Pink used the PowerPoint in an effective, creative, engaging way. Instead of presenting all of his facts on the screen and reading off of it, Pink used the PowerPoint as a tool of enhancement; it displayed pictures of the “candle problem” he spent several minutes discussing. Pink’s ability to use the PowerPoint in a new way represented much of what he stands for; creativity, right-brained thinking, change in society, and reform of business systems. This last point makes up the main argument Pink made in his TED Talk. Pink talked about motivation in humans; how humans work fastest and with the most creativity when they are not being offered extrinsic rewards, such as money. He backed up his argument by explaining the results of several experiments, such as the aforementioned “candle problem.” In order to make his reports convincing, Pink used results from experiments conducted by trusted, well-known research centers, such as MIT, London School of Economics, and Carnegie Mellon University. Another major technique of Pink’s was comedy use. Pink initiated his speech by poking fun at himself and laughing at his failed attempt to complete law school (a practice which, one learns from reading his books, greatly conflicts with his beliefs about society and the future of right-brained thinking). At unexpected moments, Pink inserted a funny remark either in his speech or on his PowerPoint. Like in most cases where comedy is effectively used, the humor helped Pink relate to the audience, relieve the severity of his arguments, and summarize his point. Clear body language further helped him convey his enthusiasm, and, at times, frustration, with his topic. Pink used his hands excessively when he became excited, and he walked all around the stage, maintaining a high level of energy. At times he was even almost hysterical with excitement. One aspect of public speaking Pink seemed especially superior in was, well, speaking. Pink fluctuated his voice, becoming louder to make important arguments and softer to make deeper or less important points. He also sped up when he reached exciting moments and paused for emphasis after he stated important facts. Pink’s extraordinary speaking abilities made him positively engaging. His argument was fascinating because he believed it was.
From this video, a viewer takes away many important arguments regarding they ways in which business needs to change. Pink proves that people, when motivated by money or any other form of reward (or punishment), in fact perform tasks slower and more close-mindedly. While this work ethic may be sufficient for twentieth-century, straight-forward jobs that are reduced down to a set process with exact steps, it is hardly efficient or creative enough for the new, high concept jobs of the twenty-first century. Inventors, designers, and any sort of creative thinkers perform far better in non-pressure environments, where they are not motivated by outside forces. If they are instead working because they personally feel the drive to work, they will produce much better results. Pink said when people have autonomy (a feeling that they control their own lives and jobs), mastery (the ability to strive for perfection of their arts), and purpose (a reason beyond personal gain to complete their tasks), they will in the long run be far more content and productive with their jobs. Throughout Pink’s performance, I noticed recurring connections between his speech and his novel, Drive. In fact, several of the lines Pink used in his speech were copied exactly into Drive (“There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does,” was said so many times in both the book and the speech that it could almost be considered Pink’s motto). Pink’s speech was, essentially, a summary of his novel.
Pink’s argument, once it is more widely circulated, will undoubtedly have a huge affect on the American lifestyle. Businesses will soon find they need to amend their systems if they want to survive in the Conceptual Age, an era in which workers need to be self-motivated. For example, as I write this blog, I am under a lot of pressure to make it of good quality so I can achieve an “A” grade in my class. I am extrinsically motivated to complete this assignment; without the threat of a fail, I would never blog about these topics. Thus, my thoughts are random and unorganized, and probably far less profound than they would be if I was blogging on my own time. On average, it takes me three hours to write one of these blog posts. This may not sound like much time to many blogging professionals, but combine it with the pressure of three other large projects, looming finals, two sports with summer tryouts approaching, and family chaos, and suddenly those two hours become precious—preciously wasted, in the minds of many. Workers in the business world express similar attitudes when they are forced to do tasks without inner motivation. Like business, education also needs to change. Students in my class are notorious for being lazy; we get the grades without doing the work. When it comes time for us to face the real world, where grades are nonexistent and it is the work that counts, we will all face imminent failure because of our now well-developed habits of laziness and procrastination. If teachers truly want to prepare us for successful careers, they need to find a new way to engage us in our educations. Grades are no longer an effective motivation. Some students who pour hours of effort into their work receive failing grades, while other kids who do half-way, last-minute jobs on their assignments receive “A”s and “B”s. By junior and especially senior year, students are tired of the school system and the constant pressure. They are asked to perform in classes and on assignments that they hate, and often let their work quality slip in the last years of high school out of frustration. In the end, we as a society will only fall behind; eventually (and I already see this beginning to occur), students will decide that a letter does not, in fact, mean that much to them, and they are no longer willing to push themselves to the breaking point for a lesson they could care less about. If teachers can find a way to harness each student’s inner drive and focus it on bettering their educations, then the United States could gain and enormous advantage over the rest of the world. Eventually, citizens of China and other such countries will become tired of fear serving as their only motivation to succeed, and revolt against the system. While China falls to pieces and its education fails, America will thrive, because its citizens will be learning due to their own desires to achieve.
Though there are kinks in Daniel Pink’s proposed system of business and learning, his speech clearly proves that it is the only way we can continue to succeed as a nation. Like the industrial revolution, this new revolution to push conceptuality and inner purpose promises to bring new levels of prosperity we have not yet even imagined.
More about Daniel Pink: http://www.danpink.com/
The video above is a discussion, complete with great visual aids, about the concepts Daniel Pink promotes.
Video Source:
TheRSAorg. "RSA Animate - Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc.
Article about intrinsic motivation: http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/intrinsic.htm
Dissenting view: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/inmotiv.htm
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