Reflection of Dan Pink’s Edutech 2013 Keynote

Dan Pink on the Science of Motivation

Dan Pink gave the opening keynote at the 2013 Edutech Conference in Brisbane.

What truly motivates? Studies have shown that the higher the pay the greater the performance but only in mechanical skills. When any rudimentary cognitive skill was required, a larger reward led to poorer performance.

If-then reward are great for simple and short term work but not good for complex and long term tasks.

Artist give the world something that they did not know they were missing. ie iPad
A study conducted on artists asked to produce commissioned and non commissioned art works showed that non commissioned were more creative even though both were of equal technical quality.

Most work we do at school is commissioned and has too many constraints.

Money matters as a motivator due to fairness. Pay teachers to show they are valued but rewarding high performing teachers financially is counter-productive. The politicians need to get this message.

Management is a technology to get compliance. Humans don’t engage by being managed and controlled. Management won’t achieve engagement.
Autonomy for self direction is the technology to achieve engagement. High standards and autonomy is the best that leadership can provide.

Examples of autonomy include Google’s 20% time to “Do what you like but share it at the end of the week with everyone else”.
Could “Non Commissioned” days which Pink called “FedEx Days” work for teachers and students? Take one day a fortnight to work on anything that they were educationally passionate about and share it with everyone at the end of the day.
Staff meeting time could be better utilised by following this model with a focus on innovation and excluding things like marking, planning etc. It requires trust all round. Trust is only developed by trusting.

Making progress in meaningful work requires constructive feedback. Pink spoke about DIY Performance Reviews. We already have teachers setting their own goals through Performance Development processes and Step 9 Performance Development Plans. I would be be very interested in exploring teachers providing collegiate feedback and support for Performance Development. Teachers and leaders should be accountable to each other. DIY Report Cards where teachers and students set own goals and grade themselves and each other is something to seriously consider.

Purpose is an essential motivator. Everyone needs to know why something is being done. This reference by Pink echoed Joan Dulton and Dave Anderson’s Parrot of Purpose sitting on one’s should and constantly squawking, “What’s the purpose?”

Have fewer conversations about “how” and more about “why” things are done.

Can I do one thing tomorrow that is better than I did today?

Thank you @danielpink for a motivating and thought provoking keynote to start Edutech 2013.