Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

In Part 2, Pink goes into detail on the three main elements of Type I Behavior: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Chapter 4 is focused on autonomy. He begins by telling the story of CEO Jeff Gunther and his software company Meddius. Gunther turned Meddius into a ROWE, or a “Results-Only-Work-Environment,” where instead of having strict schedules, employees are allowed to come into the office whenever they want (or not at all), so long as they get their work done. While giving employees so much autonomy seems counterintuitive, it ultimately made Gunther’s workers more productive and less stressed. They became focused less on fear of being punished by a manager, and more on the work itself. They had goals, but those goals were not directly tied to monetary compensation. The workers were paid well, but what they truly valued was the autonomy they were given. Because of this autonomy, Meddius workers became extremely loyal to the company and were far less likely to leave for a higher-paying job.

Pink argues that the traditional management practices at most companies today have become obsolete and out of sync with human nature. Management theories assume that without constant monitoring and the threat of punishment, humans are naturally lazy and directionless.