The Progress Principle

Harvard’s Teresa Amabile and researcher Steven Kramer analyzed nearly twelve thousand daily diary entries from people at work, looking for what really shapes motivation. Their finding was strikingly simple: on the best days, people had made progress on something meaningful; on the worst, they had been set back. Small wins, they show, do more for engagement and creativity than pay or pressure. The book turns that insight into concrete guidance for managers who want their teams to thrive.