Post by @uxMark@cosocial.ca

2026-08-09 13:38 UTC

@mayintoronto@beige.party @Amgine@mamot.fr I was convinced by Dan Pink in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. The three factors that matter are: 1. Autonomy: control over how I do my work 2. Mastery: growth and improvement in my skills 3. Purpose: doing something for a higher cause I’d argue that more and more software people have realized that the third one was a mirage in many jobs/companies, even the once biggest and most desirable “Don’t Be Evil” place.

Replies (3)

@uxMark@cosocial.ca 2026-08-09 13:41

@mayintoronto@beige.party @Amgine@mamot.fr Various tell-all books over the last few years tell gruesome stories. I’ve been saying for a few years now that UX has a lot to answer for. (I got out soft in 2016 with my own design/dev shop. And I got out hard in 2023 and am now Executive Director at a Registered Charity. So I’m biased!) And AI will now destroy Pink’s 2nd and 3rd factors. At enormous cost. No more reason to stick around without these intrinsic motivators.

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@Amgine@mamot.fr 2026-08-09 13:50

@uxMark@cosocial.ca @mayintoronto@beige.party That's a cool list! I will need to read that. One element of satisfaction which I notice in my life is actually using the thing I made. I get the happy feeling when I see the backup system tests ran without notifications. Or hanging a jacket on the pegboard I made (which needs repainting/cleaning.) Writing ad copy in a previous job? I made number go up. But I never used it.

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@dgodon@mastodon.online 2026-08-09 14:47

@uxMark@cosocial.ca @mayintoronto@beige.party @Amgine@mamot.fr the book holds up pretty well. It seemed to have some modest genuine positive impact on corporate culture for a short while. But clearly anything that slightly empowers workers is not acceptable to the leaders of these companies. Also gotta shout out @alfiekohn@sciences.social who was writing on the same theme decades before Pink, and also happens to be on here

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