037 - Motivation - Daniel Pink

In 'A Whole New Mind,' Daniel H. Pink argues that the future belongs to individuals who can master the six essential aptitudes of the right brain: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. As the world transitions from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, these skills become crucial for professional success and personal fulfillment. Pink discusses how forces like abundance, Asia, and automation are driving this shift and provides tools, tips, and exercises to help readers develop these essential abilities.

In 'You Are Now Less Dumb,' David McRaney expands on the premise that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality, except we’re not. The book provides eye-opening analyses of seventeen ways we fool ourselves daily, including Enclothed Cognition, the Benjamin Franklin Effect, Deindividuation, the Misattribution of Arousal, and the Sunk Cost Fallacy. McRaney uses a mix of popular psychology and trivia to make the subject engaging and relatable, helping readers understand and potentially overcome their own self-delusions.

In this revised and expanded edition of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, Dan Ariely uses a series of illuminating experiments to show how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible forces skew our reasoning abilities. Ariely explains how we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate, and how these behaviors are neither random nor senseless but systematic and predictable. The book covers various aspects of decision-making, from the power of placebos to the effects of social and financial norms, and offers insights into how to make better decisions by understanding these irrational patterns.

This book, based on David McRaney's popular blog, reveals how every decision, thought, and emotion comes with a story we tell ourselves, but often these stories are not true. It covers topics such as Learned Helplessness, Selling Out, and the Illusion of Transparency, presenting them in a humorous and engaging way. The book celebrates our irrational, human behavior and highlights the various ways we deceive ourselves about how we perceive, interpret, and construct our world.

In 'Drive', Daniel Pink explores the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—arguing that these intrinsic factors are more effective than extrinsic rewards in driving high performance and satisfaction. Drawing on decades of scientific research, Pink offers practical techniques for fostering motivation in personal and professional settings.