I've finally managed to finish reading Drive by Daniel Pink. I wish I had done it before when I was leading teams back in my startup days. But hey, the master comes when the student is ready. Obviously, I was not ready back then.
Drive offers a simple yet powerful perspective on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
People are intrinsically motivated to perform an activity when they receive no apparent reward other than the activity itself. Conversely, a person is extrinsically motivated when performing an activity solely to receive a reward.
As Pink highlights in his book, most environments, particularly education and business, are rooted in the idea that extrinsic motivation is the only one really working if we want to get the best out of people.
This belief has been largely disproved since the '70 by the studies of psychologists Harlow and Deci. Their research shows that rewards can actually harm motivation and, consequently, people's performance.
Honestly, my experience is that most of us move between these two opposite poles. Depending on many outer and inner variables, the balance may vary, but we are always driven by a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In a nurturing environment, I believe that they can feed each other to create better results. However, like with any polarity, neglecting one or the other may kill both in the long term.