A few weeks ago I visited the nearby Googleplex to hear a talk from Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. His talk is well worth a listen, maybe as background during lunch:

Oddly enough, I make a cameo around the 2:30 mark. I was already a touch nervous about whether it was entirely legit for me to attend, despite being invited by friend & Google employee Marc Pawliger. I’d also heard Daniel on NPR talking about experiments in which subjects had to solve problems on the fly (e.g. how do you stick a box of candles to the wall?)–and of course Google is known for testing people.
Getting immediately called before the audience, therefore, was nerve wracking: Oh my God, these people are going to figure out I’m an impostor, I’m going to eat it on some stupid puzzle, and I’m going to make Adobe look bad by extension. Fortunately, however, the worst that awaited me was some Cheetos (at the expense of a free meal in the vaunted Google cafeteria).
As I say, the talk is worthwhile, and I’ll comment more soon on Autonomy, Mastery, and Progress, especially as I’ve faced my own struggles recently. [Thanks to Marc for hosting me, Google for posting the video, and of course Daniel for the sandwich.]