Finding Purpose with Science

When I discuss workplace motivation with undergraduate and MBA students, I not only cover classic research on job design and goal setting, I also share with them ideas from a book called Drive by Dan Pink. He argues there are three essential elements to motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is the desire to direct our own lives. Mastery is the urge to get better at something. Purpose is the need for our work to be hitched to something larger than ourselves.

The job of university professor provides healthy doses of the first two: I can choose to research whatever topic I please, who to collaborate with, and how to structure my day. Research also involves challenging, practicable skills, like writing and data analysis. These tasks aren’t always fun, but they provide considerable latitude and challenge.

But purpose is a little different: To be sure, lots of management research is extremely useful. It helps organizations become more productive and fulfilling places to work. But loads of academic scholarship is locked behind paywalls, poorly communicated to the public, and, in the case of management research, of little use to practicing managers. This leaves frustrated academics wondering: How can I make a difference?

I joined a startup called Knowtro. Our team created a “no BS” search engine. Want to know how to improve your sleep, finances, relationships, health, or happiness? Knowtro returns findings from behavioral and social science research and translates them into clear statements so people can discover probable causes and effects learned through the careful testing of trained scientists.

In a 1985 Playboy interview, Steve Jobs said Apple’s goal is to “make a little dent in the universe,” to do something significant. I’m no Steve Jobs, but like him, I know Knowtro is onto something much bigger than any of us. Our users — students, professionals, stay-at-home moms and dads — report incremental improvements across all walks of life, harnessing the power of science to make better decisions every day.

Dan Pink was right: that’s pretty inspiring.

Check out Knowtro for yourself at www.knowtro.com or watch this 1-minute video explaining how it works.