Dan Pink gives an excellent 10 minute talk about what motivates people in their jobs, with an animator brings the highlights to life as he talks.  Here’s my summary for those not patient enough to watch the video:

• For manual jobs, more money = higher performance.
• For knowledge workers, once they have enough money not to worry about money anymore, more money = lower performance.
• So what motivates knowledge workers then? Autonomy (or self direction), Mastery (getting better at what you do) & Purpose (does what you’re doing make a difference?)

It’s a great video, I highly recommend watching it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc]