Dan Pink has a new book out (To Sell Is Human). I like Dan Pink and started reading his ideas on motivation when I was unhappily striving in an insurance company. I liked the ideas so much I sent the RSA Drive talk around the management team (to a resounding silence). Things have moved on a bit since then and a better understanding of employee motivation and engagement is now more obvious, if not always acted upon.
Dan was on Radio 4 this week and had all of 3 minutes to talk to Evan Davies. He’s good at the soundbite and talks fast. This part made me laugh out loud. He was talking about how to succeed in an encounter, whether this was a business meeting or a date. I expect I’m misquoting slightly but here is the jist:
“Don’t bathe in a warm bath of positive affirmations. Ask yourself ‘Can I do it?’. Answer that, then ask ‘How can I do it?’”.
I really like this. It’s concrete, practical and ultimately more likely to get the result you want. I may even buy the book.
