Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators both exist and need to be carefully balanced. There is a long tradition of open-source development, and adding financial rewards can derail a project. (See: there is yet to be a successful "token-powered Wikipedia")
Things you can say to people in ten seconds that sometimes produce insanely outsized effects:
1. Yeah, someone *should* do that. Why not you?
2. Is there something you could do about that problem in the next five minutes?
Someone once asked me recently if I had any advice on how to predict the future when I wrote about social and technological trends. Sure , I said. My advice is that predicting the future is impossible, so the best thing you can do is try to describe the present accurately . Since most people live in the past, hanging onto stale narratives and... See more
But, then, ultimately, we get to this somewhat stark moment of conviction – a decision without certainty but with some level of instinct and belief. The work you’ve done is a big input, but then, I find there’s something else, too. It’s some combination of understanding, excitement, experience, gut, and fear. And this process repeats throughout our... See more
Zoom out more, and you’ll see that scarcity is also the story of the U.S. economy. After years of failing to invest in technology at our ports, we have a shipping-delay crisis. After years of a deliberate policy to reduce visa issuance for immigrants, we suddenly can’t find enough workers for our schools, factories, restaurants, or hotels. After... See more