Daniel H. Pink Quotes

• One aspect of play is the importance of laughter, which has physiological and psychological benefits. Did you know that there are thousands of laughter clubs around the world? People get together and laugh for no reason at all!

  Daniel H. Pink

  Laughter   Play   Laughing  

  "Why right-brainers will rule this century". Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.cnn.com. May 7, 2009.

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• If you want people to perform better, you reward them, right? Bonuses, commissions, their own reality show. Incentivize them. [...] But that's not happening here. You've got an incentive designed to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, and it does just the opposite. It dulls thinking and blocks creativity.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Motivation   Block   Inspiration  

  "The puzzle of motivation". TED Talks, www.ted.com. July 2009.

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• Create some psychological space between you and your project by imagining you're doing it for someone else or contemplating what advice you'd give to another person in your predicament.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Space   Giving   Advice  

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• A lot of white-collar work requires less of the routine, rule-based, what we might call algorithmic set of capabilities, and more of the harder-to-outsource, harder-to-automate, non-routine, creative, juristic - as the scholars call it - abilities.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   White   Creative  

  "'Drive' Not Always Explained By Rewards". "Talk of the Nation" with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. January 4, 2010.

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• The ultimate freedom for creative groups is the freedom to experiment with new ideas.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Freedom   Ideas   Creative  

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• 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.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Motivation   Creativity   Artist  

  Daniel H. Pink (2011). “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, p.45, Penguin

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• The monkeys solved the puzzle simply because they found it gratifying to solve puzzles. They enjoyed it. The joy of the task was its own reward.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Inspirational   Joy   Tasks  

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• What's important now are the characteristics of the brain's right hemisphere: artistry, empathy, inventiveness, big-picture thinking. These skills have become first among equals in a whole range of business fields.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Thinking   Skills  

  "Oprah Talks to Daniel Pink". Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.oprah.com. December 2008.

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• The capacity to see the big picture is perhaps the most important as an antidote to the variety of psychic woes brought forth by the remarkable prosperity and plentitude of our times. Many of us are crunched for time, deluged by information, and paralyzed by the weight of too many choices. The best prescription for these modern maladies may be to approach one's own life in a contextual, big picture fashion - to distinguish between what really matters and what merely annoys.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Fashion   Psychics   Choices  

  Daniel H. Pink (2006). “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”, p.143, Penguin

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• The misuse of extrinsic rewards, so common in business, impedes creativity, stifles personal satisfaction and turns play into work.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Creativity   Play   Rewards  

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• What is interesting is that John Lewis actually got interested initially in the civil rights movement because of a comic book. So part of it, he's paying homage to this tradition that you can tell serious stories and talk about serious issues in graphic form.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Book   Interesting   Civil Rights  

  Source: www.pbs.org

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• Rewards can deliver a short-term boost—just as a jolt of caffeine can keep you cranking for a few more hours. But the effect wears off—and, worse, can reduce a person’s longer-term motivation to continue the project.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Motivation   Rewards   Hours  

  Daniel H. Pink (2010). “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, p.8, Canongate Books

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• Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one's sights and pushing toward the horizon.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Inspirational   Meaningful   Positivity  

  Daniel H. Pink (2010). “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, p.58, Canongate Books

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• I tend to pull nuggets out of many books - rather than having a handful of books that serve as guiding lights.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Book   Light   Nuggets  

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• Whenever I meet someone new, I always ask the same question... 'So, what do you do?

  Daniel H. Pink

  Asks  

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• Studying design has made me a much, much more astute observer of this aspect of business. And I'm working mightily to improve my empathic skills. I've dramatically improved my ability to read facial expressions - and I'm trying to be a better, more attentive listener.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Expression   Skills   Design  

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• The billable hours is a classic case of restricted autonomy. I mean, you're working on - I mean, sometimes on these six-minute increments. So you're not focused on doing a good job. You're focused on hitting your numbers. It's one reason why lawyers typically are so unhappy. And I want a world of happy lawyers.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Jobs   Mean  

  "'Drive' Not Always Explained By Rewards". "Talk of the Nation" with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. January 4, 2010.

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• In economic terms, we've always thought of work as a disutility - as something you do to get something else. Now it's increasingly a utility - something that's valuable and worthy in its own right.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Mind   Economic  

  "Your Start-Up Life: Dan Pink on Why “Passion” Doesn’t Matter". Interview with Rana Florida, www.huffingtonpost.com. April 5, 2012.

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• Today it’s economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Beautiful   Today   Whimsical  

  Daniel H. Pink (2006). “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”, p.62, Penguin

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• Symphony is the ability to see the big picture, connect the dots, combine disparate things into something new. Visual artists in particular are good at seeing how the pieces come together. I experienced this myself by trying to learn to draw.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Artist   Symphony   Trying  

  "Why right-brainers will rule this century". Interview with Oprah Winfrey, www.cnn.com. May 7, 2009.

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• One of the best predictors of ultimate success in either sales or non - sales selling isn't natural talent or even industry expertise, but how you explain your failures and rejections.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Natural Talent   Rejection   Motivational Sales  

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• Asking "Why?" can lead to understanding. Asking "Why not?" can lead to breakthroughs.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Education   Asking Why   Understanding  

  Daniel H. Pink (2006). “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”, p.130, Penguin

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• The last few decades have belonged to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of mind-computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, MBAs who could crunch numbers. But the keys to the kingdom are changing hands.The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind-creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers.These people-artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers-will now reap society's richest rewards and share its greatest joys.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Education   Creativity   Artist  

  Daniel H. Pink (2006). “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”, p.14, Penguin

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• A lot of times when you have very short-term goals with a high payoff, nasty things can happen. In particular, a lot of people will take the low road there. They'll become myopic. They'll crowd out the longer-term interests of the organization or even of themselves.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Organization   People  

  "'Drive' Not Always Explained By Rewards". "Talk of the Nation" with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. January 4, 2010.

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• Human beings are natural mimickers. The more youre conscious of the other sides posture, mannerisms, and word choices - and the more you subtly reflect those back - the more accurate youll be at taking their perspective.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Perspective   Choices  

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• Experimentalists never know when their work is finished.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Finishing   Knows   Finished  

  "What kind of genius are you?" by Daniel H. Pink, www.wired.com. July 1, 2006.

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• The ultimate pitch for an era of short attention spans begins with a single word - and doesn't go any further.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Communication   Attention   Eras  

  Daniel H. Pink (2012). “To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others”, p.108, Penguin

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• Most of what we know about sales comes from a world of information asymmetry, where for a very long time sellers had more information than buyers. That meant sellers could hoodwink buyers, especially if buyers did not have a lot of choices or a way to talk back.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Long   Choices  

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• The problem with making an extrinsic reward the only destination that matters is that some people will choose the quickest route there, even if it means taking the low road. Indeed, most of the scandals and misbehavior that have seemed endemic to modern life involve shortcuts.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Mean   People   Modern Life  

  Daniel H. Pink (2010). “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, p.51, Canongate Books

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• You know, I'm not a huge fan of the concept of 'passion' when it comes to careers. Instead of trying to answer the daunting question of 'What's your passion?' it's better simply to watch what you do when you've got time of your own and nobody's looking.

  Daniel H. Pink

  Leadership   Passion   Careers  

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