The book begins by describing two different experiments, both of which reveal unexpected insights into motivation: what really drives us to complete tasks and be productive? Conventional wisdom says that people are motivated either by biological urges (food, sex, etc.) or by external rewards and punishments. But the experiments Pink describes here challenge that assumption, showing that intrinsic motivations can be at least as powerful as extrinsic ones.

The first experiment, conducted by Harry F. Harlow in 1949, involved giving monkeys a simple puzzle to solve. Harlow was surprised to find that when he introduced the puzzle devices to the monkeys’ cages, the monkeys began tinkering with the puzzles and learning how to solve them on their own, without any encouragement in the form of praise or treats. From this experiment, Harlow concluded that the monkeys must have been driven by an intrinsic motivation. They found the puzzles interesting, and so puzzle-solving itself became its own reward. Even more surprising, Harlow also found that giving the monkeys rewards for puzzle-solving resulted in worse performance. This flew in the face of the scientific consensus regarding motivation, and because of that, Harlow’s discovery went largely unacknowledged for several decades.