Jeevan - Intrinsic: A manifesto to reignite our inner drive

Intrinsic inspires optimism for a better future. Its both a great read and a stimulus for change.

BARONESS SALLY MORGAN, Master of Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge University; former Chair, OFSTED

Using stories of the impact of intrinsic motivation, purpose and autonomy, Jeevan provides a profoundly optimistic book about how to tackle the big challenges of our world, workplaces, and lives.

HILARY PENNINGTON, Executive Vice President,
Ford Foundation

We claw and scratch to get ahead without recognizing that what we aim towards and how we strive matters infinitely more than how far we get. Intrinsic delivers an impassioned plea, backed by powerful examples from around the world, for reconstructing work, school, family, and politics to make them more worthwhile and to make our lives more fulfilling.

DANIEL MARKOVITS, Guido Calabresi Professor of Law,
Yale Law School and author of The Meritocracy Trap

Built on cutting-edge research and practice, Intrinsic helps both employees and organizations improve engagement and impact from within in a truly authentic and sustainable way.

PAULO PISANO, Chief People Officer at booking.com

In an age of anxiety, comes a fresh voice asking us to reflect, and critically to act. Rarely have we heard from an expert with a track record of reigniting the motivation of hundreds of thousands of teachers. He takes the lessons from that success to help us look into ourselves and others, to find that spark of change in our lives.

ANTHONY PAINTER, Chief Research and Impact Officer,
The Royal Society of Arts (RSA)

Powerful and poignant, Intrinsic is the roadmap weve been waiting for. From work and relationships, to parenting and citizenship, Jeevan deftly reveals how we can harness the science of motivation to reignite our inner drive and live with purpose and mastery.

NATHALIE NAHAI, author of Business Unusual: Values,
Uncertainty and the Psychology of Brand Resilience

With deep insight, Sharath Jeevan challenges us to re-think the relationship between politics and citizenship in these times of turbulence. He nudges us to unleash our own intrinsic motivation and participate with renewed confidence, purpose and hope, in making our world a better place, beginning from our own home, community, country and of course beyond.

GEORGE A. PAPANDREOU, former Prime Minister of Greece

Intrinsic is a remarkable manifesto for life. Jeevan uses his observation and instincts to develop a compelling argument for the re-focussing of individual and family life as well as communities in the world of work. He shows us how to ignite a beacon and keep the flame burning.

ANTHONY LITTLE, former Head Master, Eton College

Packed with deep yet practical insights, Intrinsic is essential reading for students and educators in universities and schools everywhere.

JENNIFER MOSES, board member of Brown University; co-founder, Caliber Schools

Diligently researched, Intrinsic presents the reader with a well-curated mix of hard facts and real-life stories. Three elements purpose, autonomy and mastery can be applied to multiple contexts of ones life, thereby helping to refocus and recalibrate ones intrinsic motivation.

VIDYA SHAH, co-founder, Edelweiss Financial Services Group and Executive Chairperson, Edelgive Foundation

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

I love India when it rains. For those brief moments, the pure smell of water and earth wipes out the noxious fumes that make Delhi one of the most polluted places on the earth. The pitter-patter of raindrops masks the incessant honk-honk of the traffic the auto-rickshaws, cars and motorbikes that clog the citys mostly narrow streets.

James, Sid and I were sitting on the roof of our makeshift apartment-turned-office in Kailash Colony, a pleasant South Delhi neighbourhood. All of us stripped down to our boxer shorts; we looked like roosters awaiting our fate in a factory farm. A solitary clothes peg hung in the office, and underneath a puddle created by our soaked clothes. Fortunately, Neha our female colleague had possessed the smarts to leave the apartment much earlier, saving herself from this spectacle.

London was my theoretical home, but in 2012 Delhi had become my makeshift one. I was the father of a 14-month-old son, so you can imagine that this was not a source of delight for my wife. It had been a brutal first few weeks kick-starting the non-government organization (NGO) Id founded, STiR Education, in East Delhis poorest slums, all in 40-plus heat. Wed visited more than a hundred schools, and had spoken to more than 400 teachers, in search of the most promising teaching ideas. Selecting, publishing and spreading the most inspiring of these micro-innovations, we believed, would benefit teachers and children around the globe. India the worlds largest school system was the obvious place to begin our quest.

Wed asked for directions from cycle-rickshaw-wallahs and ear-wax-remover-wallahs , and dodged ever clear and present danger from unexpected potholes to cow dung that often caught our feet.

Google Maps had not been a reliable friend: its amazing how even the accuracy of maps is linked to a communitys income. The mosquitoes, to their credit, were much more reliable. They nibbled at our ankles and arms for tasty morning or late-afternoon snacks. So much so that Sid would be diagnosed with dengue fever just a few weeks later.

This should have been a jubilant evening an evening of celebration. That morning wed completed our final school visit

After those long, hot, treacherous months, wed made it, goddammit. Yet, that evening I felt a sense of foreboding. The reason: the phone in our office in Delhi had not stopped ringing for eight consecutive days. The calls were all from teachers. We only had three staff in Delhi then, and so phone-answering had suddenly become a big part of everyones job.

Look, one teacher told us, Im not disputing why my idea wasnt selected. I know it was a fair processBut youve awoken something in me Ive not felt for a long time. You made me remember why I became a teacher in the first place.