Avoiding Over-Reliance on Financial Incentives: Money as a sole motivator can backfire, decreasing intrinsic motivation over time.

The Power of Meaning: Beyond money, meaning drives us. People thrive when they see the purpose in what they do.

The Complexity of Motivation: Motivation is multi-layered, requiring empathy and an understanding of personal and emotional factors.

Connection and Community: Knowing how our work helps others creates a sense of belonging and enhances motivation.

Personal Identity in Work: We’re motivated when work aligns with our self-identity, making us feel authentic and valued.

Loss Aversion: People are highly motivated to avoid losses. Highlighting potential loss can be a strong motivator.

Behavioral Factors Over Logic: Motivation doesn’t always follow logic. Often, small tweaks can shift our drive significantly.

The Pain of Ignored Effort: If contributions are disregarded, motivation plummets. Recognizing effort is vital.

Effort and Pride: We value things more when we put effort into them, as shown by the “IKEA effect”—we cherish what we build.

Importance of Acknowledgment: Simple recognition boosts motivation. Ignoring effort, even subtly, can drastically reduce engagement.

Discover what truly drives us in Payoff—from meaning and pride to the power of recognition.

Bestselling author Dan Ariely reveals fascinating new insights into motivation—showing that the subject is far more complex than we ever imagined. Every day we work hard to motivate ourselves, the people we live with, the people who work for and do business with us. In this way, much of what we do can be defined as being “motivators.” From the boardroom to the living room, our role as motivators is complex, and the more we try to motivate partners and children, friends and coworkers, the clearer it becomes that the story of motivation is far more intricate and fascinating than we’ve assumed. Payoff investigates the true nature of motivation, our partial blindness to the way it works, and how we can bridge this gap. With studies that range from Intel to a kindergarten classroom, Ariely digs deep to find the root of motivation—how it works and how we can use this knowledge to approach important choices in our own lives. Along the way, he explores intriguing questions such as: Can giving employees bonuses harm productivity? Why is trust so crucial for successful motivation? What are our misconceptions about how to value our work? How does your sense of your mortality impact your motivation?

Understand yourself and those around you.

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Psychology

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Leadership & Management

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Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University. He also holds an appointment at the MIT Media Lab where he is the head of the eRationality research group. He was formerly the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT Sloan School of Management.Dan Ariely grew up in Israel after birth in New York. He served in the Israeli army and when 18 suffered third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body from an accidental magnesium flare explosion during training.Ariely recovered and went on to graduate from Tel Aviv University and received a Ph.D. and M.A. in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in business from Duke University.

DAN ARIELY

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