Quotes from Daniel H. Pink

Buy a small notebook and begin carrying it with you wherever you go. When you see great design, make a note of it.

I used to believe that synchronizing with others was merely a mechanical process. Now I believe that it requires a sense of belonging, rewards a sense of purpose, and reveals a part of our nature.

Moral regrets make up the smallest of the four categories in the deep structure of regret, representing only about 10 percent of the total regrets.

Owls, meanwhile, display some darker tendencies.

Do the same for flawed design.

Listening to the conversations of those nearby has a bad reputation. But we all do it, so we might as well make it worthwhile. Next time you're in a position to eavesdrop, listen carefully to what your targets are saying. Then imagine yourself as one of those people in that situation. What are you (that is, him or her) thinking and feeling at that moment? What emotions, if any, are coursing through your body? How did you end up in this particular place at this particular time?

But "as long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance."2

personal narrative has become more prevalent, and perhaps more urgent, in a time of abundance, when many of us are freer to seek a deeper understanding of ourselves and our purpose.

IDEO is one of the world's most respected design firms—the creator of everything from those fat-handled toothbrushes for kids to Apple Computer's first mouse to the Palm V. How do they do it? The secret would make an MBA squirm: Empathy. In the IDEO universe, great design doesn't begin with a cool drawing or a nifty gadget. It begins with a deep and empathic understanding of people.

Story represents a pathway to understanding that doesn't run through the left side of the brain.

The good news is that vigilance breaks can loosen the trough's grip on our behavior. As the doctors at the University of Michigan demonstrate, inserting regular mandatory vigilance breaks into tasks helps us regain the focus needed to proceed with challenging work that must be done in the afternoon.

alongside the chairs in which his executives, marketing mavens, and software jockeys take their places, Bezos includes one more chair that remains empty. It's there to remind those assembled who's really the most important person in the room: the customer.

Mini-sagas are extremely short stories—just fifty words long…no more, no less.

For work that requires more than just climbing, rung by rung, up a ladder of instructions, rewards are more perilous. The best way to avoid the seven deadly flaws of extrinsic motivators is to avoid them altogether or to downplay them significantly and instead emphasize the elements of deeper motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose

THE FIVE REGRETTED SINS Deceit. Infidelity. Theft. Betrayal. Sacrilege.

The essential requirement: Any extrinsic reward should be unexpected and offered only after the task is complete.

If you happen to appear before a parole board just before a break rather than just after one, you'll likely spend a few more years in jail—not because of the facts of the case but because of the time of day.

In other words, where "if-then" rewards are a mistake, shift to "now that" rewards—as in "Now that you've finished the poster and it turned out so well, I'd like to celebrate by taking you out to lunch.

In the past, work was defined primarily by putting in time, and secondarily on getting results. We need to flip that model

Amabile and others have found that extrinsic rewards can be effective for algorithmic tasks—those that depend on following an existing formula to its logical conclusion. But for more right-brain undertakings—those that demand flexible problem-solving, inventiveness, or conceptual understanding—contingent rewards can be dangerous.

Last century, machines proved they could replace human backs. This century, new technologies are proving they can replace human left brains.

McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the typical American hears or reads more than one hundred thousand words every day.

First, consider nontangible rewards. Praise and positive feedback are much less corrosive than cash and trophies.

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