This mismatch in science and business is the idea that is worth spreading, so enjoy this TED talk by Dan Pink. Also, at the end of the post, you will find the written wrap-up of the presentation.

(Video via wi-fi-de-do)

Here is the Wrap-up of the presentation:

The new OS to run our business revolves around three elements:

• Autonomy: the urge to direct our own lives.
• Mastery: the desire to get better and better at something that matters.
• Purpose: Purpose, the yearning to what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

There is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does.

• One: Those 20th century rewards, those motivators we think are a natural part of business, do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances.
• Two: Those if-then rewards often destroy creativity.
• Three: the secret to high performance, isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive. The drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter.

Resources from the presentation:

Here is a link to the Duncker’s Candle Problem.

Article by Business Week on the ROWE (or Results-Only Work Environment)