Motivation In Dave Pink's Ted Talk

Dave Pink’s Ted Talk reminded me of Ivan Pavlov’s conditional reflex theory; I believe sometimes in order to get a person motivated to do something, an incentive must be presented. We learn at a young age to have extrinsic motivation (if you did chores, you would get an allowance; if you got A’s in school, we would get rewarded; and so on and so forth). Growing up, I was never motivated by intrinsic motivation, I wasn’t personally rewarded by doing chores; I was motivated by the allowance. While in the military, my division was extrinsically motivated; we worked harder and faster to get off of work sooner than other divisions. We knew that once we completed the work, we would be off of work.

As I became an adult, I began to appreciate intrinsic