Categories

…by diminishing intrinsic motivation… performance, creativity, and even upstanding behavior topple like dominoes.

For artists, scientists, inventors, schoolchildren, and the rest of us, intrinsic motivation – the drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing – is essential for high levels of creativity.

The essential requirement: Any intrinsic reward should be unexpected and offered only after the task is complete.

Intrinsically motivated people usually achieve more than their reward-seeking counterparts.

…people oriented toward autonomy and intrinsic motivation have higher self-esteem, better interpersonal relationships, and greater general well-being than those who are extrinsically motivated.

…intrinsic behavior emerges when people have autonomy over the four T’s: their task, their time, their technique, and their team.

…studies… have shown that people high in intrinsic motivation are better coworkers. And that makes the possibilities on this front enormous.

People who are internally driven to create do seem more creative than those who are just doing it for the money.

…intrinsic drive is by far the most powerful.

Research shows that more extrinsic rewards do not add up to greater inner drive. In fact, they have the opposite effect – a decline in intrinsic motivation.