More Information Workers / Mothers Are Attracted to Flex-Hours at Home.

Martin Seligman, positive psychologist, has written on the issues of happiness and Pink, in his book “Drive” has discussed the sources of motivation. People are most motivated and happy when they are engaged in activities that are intrinsically rewarding.


The usual “reward-punishment” model is great short term, but long term, the drive, creativity, and satisfaction ebb. For example, Wikipedia was and is created by persons deriving intrinsic rewards (and no extrinsic pay-offs) yet they beat out Microsoft Encarta which paid its workers for years until folding. 


Point: Productivity, especially the type that is creative and problem solving focused, is higher where intrinsic pay-offs are present, such as the pay-off of working at home in a semi-autonomous manner that allows for a more balanced life.