While upbeat lingo abounds about ‘complementing strategic objectives’ and ‘driving productivity’, the fact is that most training does not make a significant enough impact on business results, and when it does, training professionals fail to make a convincing case about the value added to the bottom line.

We’ve been conditioned to think that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is through external rewards like money or fame, or by the fear of punishment – the carrot-and-stick approach. That’s a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in his transformative new book. The key to high performance and satisfaction is intrinsic, internal motivation: the desire to follow your own interests and understand the benefits in them for you.