A Review of Drive by Dan Pink

This is one of those books that describes something extremely obvious and intuitive that at the same time goes against what you were taught was “common sense.” This would be a good book just for the survey of the (long) history of the study of the theory of motivation. It also concludes with a number of things you can do to create an environment that encourages mastery (as opposed to simply meeting goals) in your work and school. 

If you’re an agile software developer you’ll have a few aha! moments when you understand how agile practices really encourage flow and create environments where teams and individuals can be highly productive. If you’re a manager, this book will encourage you to think about how teams work and how some common practices are counter-productive. 

If you’re trying to understand why self organizing teams work, but with a perspective outside of software development, this is a quick read that will get you thinking and learning.

Some other books on related topics:

• Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management (Pragmatic Programmers)
• Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware (Pragmatic Programmers)
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (P.S.)