The Puzzle of Motivation

動(dòng)力的謎題

Dan Pink Ted Talk: Puzzle of Motivation

I need to make a confession at the outset here. A little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret, something that I'm not particularly proud of. Something that, in many ways, I wish no one would ever know, but here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.  (Laughter) 

開(kāi)始前我必須先向你們告解 二十多年前 我做了一件讓我后悔莫及的事 一件我絲毫不感到驕傲的事 一件我希望沒(méi)有任何人會(huì)知道的事 但今日我認(rèn)為我有必要揭發(fā)我自己 (笑聲) 

In the late 1980s, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I went to law school. (Laughter) 

80年代晚期 因?yàn)槟晟佥p狂 我進(jìn)入法律學(xué)院就讀 (笑聲) 

In America, law is a professional degree: after your university degree, you go on to law school. When I got to law school, I didn't do very well. To put it mildly, I didn't do very well. I, in fact, graduated in the part of my law school class that made the top 90% possible. (Laughter) 

在美國(guó),，法律學(xué)位是個(gè)專(zhuān)業(yè)學(xué)位 你得先拿到學(xué)士,，才能進(jìn)入法律學(xué)院 當(dāng)我進(jìn)入法律學(xué)院時(shí) 我的成績(jī)不怎么好 客氣地說(shuō)，我的成績(jī)不怎么好 我的畢業(yè)成績(jī)成就了在我之上 那其他九成的同學(xué) (笑聲)  

Thank you. I never practiced law a day in my life; I pretty much wasn't allowed to. (Laughter) 

謝謝你們 我這輩子從來(lái)沒(méi)做過(guò)律師 基本上那樣做可能還會(huì)犯法 (笑聲) 

But today, against my better judgment, against the advice of my own wife, I want to try to dust off some of those legal skills -- what's left of those legal skills. I don't want to tell you a story. I want to make a case. I want to make a hard-headed, evidence-based, dare I say lawyerly case, for rethinking how we run our businesses. 

但今日,，我違背我的理性 違背我太太的忠告 我想重拾那些過(guò)去所學(xué)的訴訟技巧 所剩無(wú)幾的訴訟技巧 我不要向你們說(shuō)故事 而是提出一個(gè)陳述 提出一個(gè)有根有據(jù),，貨真價(jià)實(shí)的 法庭陳述 來(lái)重新思考我們的管理方法 

So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, take a look at this. This is called the candle problem. Some of you might know it. It's created in 1945 by a psychologist named Karl Duncker. He created this experiment that is used in many other experiments in behavioral science. And here's how it works. Suppose I'm the experimenter. I bring you into a room. I give you a candle, some thumbtacks and some matches. And I say to you, "Your job is to attach the candle to the wall so the wax doesn't drip onto the table." Now what would you do? 

陪審團(tuán)的女士先生們，請(qǐng)看看這個(gè) 這便是有名的蠟燭問(wèn)題 你們之中有些人可能已經(jīng)看過(guò)了 它是在1945年 由心理學(xué)家 Karl Duncker 所創(chuàng)造的 Karl Duncker 創(chuàng)造了這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn) 在行為科學(xué)中被廣泛運(yùn)用 情況是,，假設(shè)我是實(shí)驗(yàn)者 我?guī)氵M(jìn)入一個(gè)房間,，給你一根蠟燭 一些圖釘和火柴 告訴你說(shuō)”現(xiàn)在 嘗試把蠟燭固定在墻上 讓燭淚不要滴到桌上?！澳銜?huì)怎么做,？ 

Many people begin trying to thumbtack the candle to the wall. Doesn't work. I saw somebody kind of make the motion over here -- some people have a great idea where they light the match, melt the side of the candle, try to adhere it to the wall. It's an awesome idea. Doesn't work. And eventually, after five or ten minutes, most people figure out the solution, which you can see here. 

許多人嘗試用圖釘把蠟燭釘在墻上 行不通 有些人，臺(tái)下也有些人 做出這樣的動(dòng)作 有些人想到他們可以 點(diǎn)燃火柴,，溶化蠟燭的底部,，嘗試把它黏在墻上 好主意。但行不通 差不多過(guò)了五到十分鐘 大部分的人便會(huì)想出解決辦法 就像圖片上那樣  

The key is to overcome what's called functional fixedness. You look at that box and you see it only as a receptacle for the tacks. But it can also have this other function, as a platform for the candle. The candle problem. 

重點(diǎn)是克服”功能固著“ 當(dāng)你看到盒子,，你不過(guò)把它當(dāng)成裝大頭針的容器 但它還有其它功能 那就是作為放蠟燭的平臺(tái),。

I want to tell you about an experiment using the candle problem, done by a scientist named Sam Glucksberg, who is now at Princeton University, US, This shows the power of incentives. 

現(xiàn)在我想告訴你另一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn) 利用蠟燭問(wèn)題 由一個(gè)現(xiàn)在在普林斯頓大學(xué) 叫做 Sam Glucksberg 的科學(xué)家所做的實(shí)驗(yàn) 這實(shí)驗(yàn)讓我們看見(jiàn)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)的力量 他是這么做的。

He gathered his participants and said: "I'm going to time you, how quickly you can solve this problem." To one group he said, "I'm going to time you to establish norms, averages for how long it typically takes someone to solve this sort of problem." 

他將參與者聚集在一個(gè)房間里 告訴他們“我要開(kāi)始計(jì)時(shí),?？纯茨銈兡芏嗫旖鉀Q這個(gè)問(wèn)題？” 他對(duì)其中一群人說(shuō),， 我只是想取個(gè)平均值 看一般人需要花多久的時(shí)間 才能解決這樣的問(wèn)題,。

To the second group he offered rewards. He said, "If you're in the top 25% of the fastest times, you get five dollars. If you're the fastest of everyone we're testing here today, you get 20 dollars." Now this is several years ago, adjusted for inflation, it's a decent sum of money for a few minutes of work. It's a nice motivator. 

他提供獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)給另一群人 他說(shuō)“如果你是前25%最快解決問(wèn)題的人 就能拿到五塊錢(qián),。 如果你是今日所有人里解答最快的 你就有20塊錢(qián),。" 這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)是幾年前的事了，按照通貨膨脹 幾分鐘就能拿到20塊是很不錯(cuò)的 是個(gè)不錯(cuò)的誘因 

Question: How much faster did this group solve the problem? 

問(wèn)題是：這群人比另一群人 的解題速度快了多少呢,？ 

Answer: It took them, on average, three and a half minutes longer. 3.5 min longer. This makes no sense, right? I mean, I'm an American. I believe in free markets. That's not how it's supposed to work, right? (Laughter) 

答案是：平均來(lái)說(shuō),，他們比另一組人 多花了三分半種。 整整三分半種,。這不合理,，不是嗎？ 你想想,，我是個(gè)美國(guó)人,。我相信自由經(jīng)濟(jì) 這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)不太對(duì)勁吧？對(duì)嗎？ (笑聲) 

If you want people to perform better, you reward them. Right? Bonuses, commissions, their own reality show. Incentivize them. That's how business works. But that's not happening here. You've got an incentive designed to sharpen thinking and accelerate creativity, and it does just the opposite. It dulls thinking and blocks creativity. 

如果你想要人們做得更好,， 你便給他們獎(jiǎng)賞,，對(duì)嗎？ 紅利,、傭金,、他們自己的真人秀 物質(zhì)刺激他們的動(dòng)機(jī)。這就是商業(yè)法則 但實(shí)驗(yàn)里卻不是這樣 獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)是為了 增強(qiáng)思考能力及創(chuàng)意 但事實(shí)卻是相反,。 它阻斷了思考和創(chuàng)意能力 

What's interesting about this experiment is that it's not an aberration. This has been replicated over and over again for nearly 40 years. These contingent motivators -- if you do this, then you get that -- work in some circumstances. But for a lot of tasks, they actually either don't work or, often, they do harm. This is one of the most robust findings in social science, and also one of the most ignored. 

有趣的事情是,，這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)不是誤差 它被一再重復(fù) 在過(guò)去的四十年間 這些不同的誘因 如果你這樣做，你就得到那個(gè) 在某些情況里是可行的 但在許多任務(wù)中,，它們不是沒(méi)作用 更有可能產(chǎn)生反效果 這是在社會(huì)科學(xué)中一項(xiàng) 最有力的發(fā)現(xiàn),。 同時(shí)也是最為人忽略的 

thumbtack 圖釘

functional fixedness  功能固著

receptacle 容器 

incentive 獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)

aberration 反常現(xiàn)象