Ted Talk 3: Daniel Pink

The major lesson in this video is that there is a difference between what has been discovered about motivation and what business continues to do to motivate employees. More specifically, business has been using extrinsic, carrot-and-stick-type motivation, when most jobs today are creativity-based, and therefore much more benefited by intrinsic, self-motivation. In fact, extrinsic motivation can actually be harmful to the performance of the incentivized and/or threatened worker. 


The speaker organizes his speaking much like one would a formal paper. He starts with an attention-getting statement that turns out to be a joke. After that he gives people an idea of what his goal is for the presentation and launches into his speech. Near the end he sums up the main points of what he had said and gave food for thought (And maybe we can change the world). Finally, he constantly used his hands to talk (gesticulation).

The speaker’s presentation style was semi-formal. He made a few jokes, but for the most part he was giving information, and was serious. Also, he used the slideshow to show important points he was making, as well as to show the “Candle Problem” picture.

If everyone had the information from this video and was willing to apply it, it could revolutionize the current system. This video applies to me personally because as a student I believe I should use intrinsic motivation rather than obtaining extrinsic motivation from others. The other way it could affect me is if I end up in a position of authority in a company, I will make sure to use this information as I relate to those who are under my authority. The information in this video may have an impact on education because if teachers heed the words of Dan Pink, they will relate to their students in a different way than using rewards and punishments: they will give students more room for self-management, letting them use their intrinsic motivation. Finally, this video could affect the world, because it would completely change the way businesses are run, and the way any person of authority deals with those underneath him.