I saw Pink speak at an Innovation Summit last week. He was telling a story about how forgetting carrots and sticks (and just about everything else we think we know about motivation) can create radically more productive and inspired workforces. The story went something like this -

The yearly turnover at call centers in nearly 100%. It’s a dreary job. You’re on the phone, you get a call, it’s typically a complaint. You hear the question or complaint, and you type key strokes and you get a script. It’s routine and rule-based. You’re almost always “housed” in a windowless room. When one call is finished, another automatically comes in. You’re judged by how quickly you complete the calls and how few calls back. Job satisfaction is abysmal. And, from my own experience on the other end of that 800-line, I’d say customer experience isn’t so great either.

And yet there’s a company called Zappos that does things differently. They say to their call center employees—no script, no timing of calls, no monitoring calls. Solve the problem anyway you want, just get it done. Take action; be creative. It’s almost heresy in the call center world. And yet Zappos has among the best customer service ratings of any company in America – one that actually rivals the Four Seasons. And, it’s an online shoe company (not a five-star hotel!)

The stories do make sense. Right-brained, creative people aren’t motivated by carrots and sticks. They’re motivated by these three new ideas: autonomy, mastery and purpose. (Read more about those on another Pink post on WYDiQ)

But, how? That led me to ask Pink: Wait a minute, this all makes sense when you’re talking about a company that was founded with these values. My company has it in their DNA. But, how do you change a carrot-and-stick company? How, for example, would you introduce these ideas into a sales culture that was built on the carrots of commission?

Let’s talk about a company that actually did that, he said. A sales organization that got rid of commissions: Red Gate Software, a firm based in Cambridge that makes development tools for programmers.

They established a commission structure. The sales reps figured out how to game that system by pushing sales into the time period most advantageous for them, by underselling one month to show a bigger gain the following month, and so on. All the natural human response.

So, the management made the commissions more complex. The sales reps figured it out again. They made it more complex… you get the idea. Eventually, both the management team and the sales force seemed more focused on the compensation system than on making great software and selling it to customers who needed it.

Neil Davidson, one of the founders, approached his sales team with the bizarre idea of getting rid fo sales commissions altogether and simply paying people a healthy flat salary. The response surprised him. The salespeople thought the move was a good one, but that other salespeople wouldn’t.

Pink said, Davidson explained it to Tom [not his real name] who said, “It sounds like a really good idea. But James would never like it. Remove the commission and he’ll leave.” James said, “Sounds great. But it will never work with Tom.”

Not only were commissioned sales not leading to better performance, it wasn’t even the arrangement salespeople themselves preferred.

In the absence of commissions, Red Gate’s total sales have increased. And while two salespeople left the company – uncomfortable with the new regime – most stayed and are thriving – including our heroes Tom and James.

Out of this story, Pink drew three big pieces of advice for change management:

1. Challenge the assumptions of the orthodoxy (You don’t know what people really think until you ask)
2. Know that other people are more like us than we think (We’re all motivated by surprisingly similar things)
3. Start small (A little more about this last one:)

Pink talked about how Atlassian dedicated 20% of employee time to innovation projects – just working on what you want to work on. And, in doing so, created great new opportunities and products.

But 99% of companies shouldn’t go there, he said – it’s too risky, too expensive.

Instead, start small.

Do 10%. That’s an afternoon. Who among us hasn’t squandered an afternoon?

And don’t do it with everyone. Choose one department. And don’t do it forever. Just try 3 months.

But, do try it. Because the routine way most of America has been working is about to come to an end. (Read more about that on Advergirl in The India problem.)

At TED, Pink explained this new science of motivation: