Man, this was a well-written book.  Most books spend too many words explaining itself or supporting its arguments by showing examples.  This book does both but without wasting any words.  A perfect balance of presenting an idea and supporting it.  I’m impressed.

Intrinsic value = when the activity itself is rewarding.

The conventional understanding of motivation required carrots and sticks, and saw humans as horses.  Without reward or punishment, he wouldn’t do a darn thing.  Parents think the same thing of children in schools.  Unless you force them to learn, they won’t learn.  They are lazy and unreliable, choosing to just play and waste time.

Open source = relies on the intrinsic motivation of participants.

“That enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver.”

“For Benefit” companies — a hybrid between for-profit and non-profit.

Algorithmic vs. heuristic = simple, repetitive, formulaic tasks vs. creative work

Carrot & stick work for algorithmic work.  But the same has detrimental effect on heuristic.

Sawyer Effect: turn work into play, or play into work

Carrots & Sticks: the Seven Deadly Flaws

1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation.
2. They can diminish performance.
3. They can crush creativity, because they want to shortcut and jump to reward.
4. They can discourage altruistic behavior.
5. They can encourage unethical behavior.
6. Rewards can become addictive (while the work isn’t)
7. They can foster short-term thinking

But rewards are good in some situations:  chart on page 69

Type “I” = driven by intrinsic rewards

• is made, not born
• outperform the extrinsically-driven in the long run
• but extrinsic rewards are not out of the picture, either
• is a renewable resource (because it doesn’t rely on finite resource = external rewards = for fuel)
• promotes better physical and mental health

Autonomy

Control over:

1. Task
2. Time
3. Technique
4. Team

People vary on which portion they control.

Mastery

Goldilock effect — when the challenge is just right, neither too difficult nor too easy

• It’s a mindset
• And it involves struggle
• And you can never achieve complete mastery

We seek out “flow” when a situation presents Goldilock and it furthers our mastery.  This is satisfying — in fact, essential to happiness.

Purpose