TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading

Has TED Talks taken over everyone else's YouTube and Netflix home pages? For weeks I've tried to ignore them because I didn't know what the shows were about.. Or who the heck Ted is... (Really though who is Ted?) To put my inquiries to rest, I finally gave in and watched one of the shows and I'm sure that I will be frequenting (his?) clips often.

Today, I watched the TED talk titled: "Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation" and it filled some sort of mind-void if you will.. It was as if I was in need of some mind expanding conversation and Dan Pink's 'puzzle' fulfilled it. Dan Pink's TED Talk centers around exploring 'the mismatch between what science knows and what business does' in regards to how they motivate people. He explains how we have scientifically proven that higher rewards/punishments do not necessarily yield higher performance and in fact often destroy creativity... yet that's how most business managers still choose to motivate their employees. Furthermore, he discusses how autonomy and an internal intrinsic drive are key components to achieve high motivation- and some of his examples prove this to be true. Overall I really enjoyed his 'case' and felt his 'ideas were worth spreading'. I encourage you all to watch the clip too and give it some thought.

Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y