The puzzle of motivation | Dan Pink | TED · TED
Dan Pink探讨动机的本质，指出传统奖励未必有效。通过实验和故事，揭示如何激发真正的动力，适合练习职场和成长类英语表达。
I need to make a confession at the outset here.
首先，我需要做一个坦白。
A little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret,
大约20多年前，我做了一件让我至今感到后悔的事。
something that I'm not particularly proud of.
这是我并不特别引以为傲的事情。
Something that, in many ways, I wish no one would ever know, but here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.
有些事情，从很多角度来看，我希望没有人会知道；但在这里，我觉得自己有义务把它们说出来。
In the late 1980s, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I went to law school.
20世纪80年代末，出于年轻时的冲动和轻率，我选择了去读法律学校。
In America, law is a professional degree: after your university degree, you go on to law school.
在美国，法律专业属于专业学位范畴：在获得本科学位后，学生需要进入法学院继续深造。
When I got to law school, I didn't do very well.
当我进入法学院时，我的学习成绩并不理想。
To put it mildly, I didn't do very well.
说得委婉一点吧，我的表现实在不怎么样。
I, in fact, graduated in the part of my law school class that made the top 90% possible.
事实上，我所在的法学院班级中，只有大约90%的学生能够顺利毕业；而我本人，正是属于那90%中的幸运儿之一。
Thank you.
谢谢。
I never practiced law a day in my life; I pretty much wasn't allowed to.
我这辈子从来没从事过法律工作，事实上也不被允许这样做。
But today, against my better judgment, against the advice of my own wife,
但今天，尽管我本应更明智一些，尽管我的妻子也劝我不要这么做，我还是选择了相反的做法。
I want to try to dust off some of those legal skills -- what's left of those legal skills.
我想试着重新运用一下那些法律知识……尽管那些法律知识已经所剩无几了。
I don't want to tell you a story.
我不想给你们讲一个故事。
I want to make a case.
我想提出一个论点（或观点）。
I want to make a hard-headed, evidence-based, dare I say lawyerly case, for rethinking how we run our businesses.
我想提出一个基于事实、逻辑严密的论点（甚至可以说是“律师式的论点”），呼吁我们重新审视经营企业的方式。
So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, take a look at this.
那么，陪审团的各位女士和先生们，请看一下这个。
This is called the candle problem.
这就是所谓的“蜡烛问题”（Candle Problem）。
Some of you might know it.
你们中的一些人可能已经知道这件事了。
It's created in 1945 by a psychologist named Karl Duncker.
它是由一位名叫卡尔·邓克尔（Karl Duncker）的心理学家在1945年创建的。
He created this experiment that is used in many other experiments in behavioral science.
他设计了这个实验方法，该方法后来被广泛应用于行为科学领域的众多其他研究中。
And here's how it works.
具体运作方式如下：
Suppose I'm the experimenter.
假设我是实验者。
I bring you into a room.
我带你进入一个房间。
I give you a candle, some thumbtacks and some matches.
我给你一支蜡烛、一些图钉和一些火柴。
And I say to you, "Your job is to attach the candle to the wall so the wax doesn't drip onto the table."
我对你们说：“你们的任务是将蜡烛固定在墙上，这样蜡就不会滴到桌子上。
Now what would you do?
那么，你会怎么做呢？
Many people begin trying to thumbtack the candle to the wall.
很多人一开始都会尝试用图钉把蜡烛钉在墙上。
Doesn't work.
这个方法根本不起作用。
I saw somebody kind of make the motion over here -- some people have a great idea where they light the match,
我看到有人在这里做了个手势……有些人想出了一个很棒的主意，关于该在哪里点燃火柴。
melt the side of the candle, try to adhere it to the wall.
把蜡烛的侧面融化，然后试着将其粘在墙上。
It's an awesome idea.
这真是个绝妙的主意。
Doesn't work.
这个方法根本不起作用。
And eventually, after five or ten minutes, most people figure out the solution, which you can see here.
最终，在五到十分钟后，大多数人都能找到解决方案；这个解决方案你可以在这里看到。
The key is to overcome what's called functional fixedness.
关键在于克服所谓的“功能固着性”（即人们难以改变自己原有的思维或行为模式）。
You look at that box and you see it only as a receptacle for the tacks.
你看着那个盒子，只把它看作是用来装图钉的容器罢了。
But it can also have this other function, as a platform for the candle.
但它也可以具有另一种功能，即作为放置蜡烛的支架（或平台）。
The candle problem.
蜡烛问题（Candle Problem）。
I want to tell you about an experiment using the candle problem, done by a scientist named Sam Glucksberg,
我想跟你们讲一个实验，这个实验使用了“蜡烛问题”（candle problem）作为研究工具，是由一位名叫萨姆·格卢克斯伯格（Sam Glucksberg）的科学家完成的。
who is now at Princeton University, US, This shows the power of incentives.
他现在在美国普林斯顿大学任教。这充分证明了激励机制的强大作用。