"We have a biological drive. We eat when we're hungry, drink when we're thirsty, have sex to satisfy our carnal urges. We also have a second drive--we respond to rewards and punishments in our environment. But what we've forgotten--and what science shows--is that we also have a third drive. We do things because they're interesting, because they're engaging, because they're the right things to do, because they contribute to the world. The problem is that, especially in our organizations, we stop at that second drive. We think the only reason people do productive things is to snag a carrot or avoid a stick. But that's just not true. Our third drive--our intrinsic motivation--can be even more powerful."
"I think that our nature is to be active and engaged. I've never seen a 2-year-old or a 4-year-old who's not active and engaged. That's how we are out of the box. And if you begin with this presumption, you create more open, flexible arrangements that almost inevitably lead to greater satisfaction for individuals and great innovation for organizations." Daniel Pink in "The Great Cognitive Surplus," Wired, June, 2010.
Two Braveheart concepts in the article. First, "Father's don't exasperate your children that they lose heart," Paul in Colossians Three. Children only lose what they have; heart is hereditary, "how we are out of the box." But we help them lose it, a loss so important that Paul warns us.
Second, passion trumps. While strength, skill, giftedness, and past experiences help to be a braveheart, the passion to do right things and change the world wins when facing fears. Passion--for a purpose and from a conviction--is the why. Feed and water passion.
Oh, one more. What does "open, flexible arrangements" imply for boxes we build around our children? Human growth and development says bigger boxes over time. Room to grow. Keep the box big enough to create mighty oaks, not trimmed Bonsais in cute containers.
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