Why Motivating People Doesn't Work…and What Does, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

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The Motivation Dilemma

Larry Lucchino found himself in an envious position. He had the perfect person in mind to recruit and hire as a new employee at the highest salary ever paid to someone in the role. He was authorized to include whatever it might take to motivate this person to work in his organization—signing bonus, moving allowance, transportation, housing, performance bonuses, and a high-status office.

Lucchino’s mission: lure Billy Beane, the general manager of the small-market Oakland A’s, to the Boston Red Sox, one of the most storied and prestigious franchises in baseball. Lucchino was impressed with Billy’s innovative ideas about using SABRmetrics—a new statistical analysis for recruiting and developing players.

In 2002, the Red ...