This RSA Animate youtube video, featuring a talk by Dan Pink, on the subject of motivation, has been circulating around my social network today. It's interesting. But it's not news. Huh? Allow me to explain. Dan talks about motivation, based on historical scientific data. That's interesting, but it's actually something which we've known for a very long time as society. Just look at Alfie Kuhns legendary article on motivation for the Boston Globe. Alfie wrote his article in 1987. That's 23 years ago!

So the real mystery here is: why aren't we doing it? Sure, the scientific data has grown since 1987, making us more sure about this than ever before. But substantially, the fact that there are other factors that motivate people, more so than money, shouldn't be surprising. Yet, 23 years later, we're still paying top executives huge bonuses. That would make sense, if the same executives were involved in physical labour. They're not. And so, it doesn't make sense. In fact, it's entirely counter-productive, as Dan talks about.

But why, 23 years later, are we still thinking that money is a good reward for top performance? I have two answers, both slightly cynical. One: reward systems are decided on by the very people for whom rewards are supposed to be applied. This turns the issue from performance, to self-interest money grabbing. Two: most of us (me including) are still struggling every day to make ends meet. Dan makes clear that in order to really motivate someone in the workplace, you need to give them enough money so that money is no longer an issue. But most of us don't ever get there. We're still struggling. So it seems logical that most people would believe that money is a good reward for motivation. If we all had enough money, I'm sure the situation would be different.

But what is it to have enough money? And is it the lack of money that's the issue, or the cost of living? There's not one clear path forward here, but we need to start thinking about what we actually need, as individuals in a global society. And then work, together, to realise this need.