I just finished watching an incredible presentation on TED about the “Surprising Science Behind Motivation” by Dan Pink.  He reveals a number of practical examples about why the typical intrinsic motivators we use every day in business stifle creativity.  One such example is the contrast between Microsoft Encarta and Wikipedia.  Microsoft hired a highly-trained team of developers committed to delivering the project on time and on budget.  These developers would receive rewards as motivation for meeting tough deadlines.  Dan pink calls this type of motivation “carrots and sticks”.  Encarta is set to be terminated on October 31, 2009.

Wikipedia was created with an entirely different model.  No one was paid one cent, one dollar, one yen… The project was conceived out of passion and the belief they were on to something incredible.  Dan poses the question, “What would economists have predicted would have been the more successful method?”

Further, Dan Pink talks about Google having a 20 percent time policy where developers are given 20 percent of their day to dedicate to whatever they wish.  These ideas are later proposed in meetings.  I was shocked to hear that over 50% of the Google products in a typical year are produced from this 20 percent time.