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In 2009 Daniel H. Pink, a Yale-trained lawyer who never practised law, stood on the TED stage and described an experiment with a candle, a box of tacks and some matches: people offered money to solve it quickly took longer than people offered nothing. The talk, “The puzzle of motivation”, became one of the most watched TED talks, and the book behind it, Drive, spent 159 weeks on New York Times bestseller lists. Before that Pink had been chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore; since then he has written about selling, timing and regret. By his own count his books have sold more than five million copies in 46 languages. This guide covers his seven key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 7 key books · 2001–2022 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Daniel H. Pink has written seven books. The best known are Drive (2009), about what motivates people at work, A Whole New Mind (2005), To Sell Is Human (2012), When (2018) and The Power of Regret (2022). Start with Drive; below you will find what each book argues and which to read next.
Where to Start with Daniel H. Pink
If you want his defining book
→ Drive (2009) — autonomy, mastery and purpose, and why bonuses can backfire.
If you want something you can use tomorrow
→ When (2018) — the research on when in the day to do what.
If you want to get better at persuading people
→ To Sell Is Human (2012) — selling for people who do not think they sell.
If you want his most personal subject
→ The Power of Regret (2022) — what thousands of people said they regret.
7 Daniel H. Pink Books, in Order
Free Agent Nation
Pink left government in 1997 to work for himself and first described the trend in a 1998 Fast Company article. The book argues that independent workers — soloists, temps and microbusinesses, which his publisher put at 30 million Americans — were changing how work is organised, and covers practical questions such as replacing the health insurance and office an employer used to provide. It was a Washington Post bestseller.
A Whole New Mind
Pink argues that the economy is moving from the Information Age to a “Conceptual Age”, pushed by three forces he calls Abundance, Asia and Automation. Logical, sequential skills are no longer enough; he names six “senses” that matter more: design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. It spent 96 weeks on New York Times bestseller lists.
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko
A career guide told as a manga, drawn by the illustrator Rob Ten Pas. Johnny is stuck in an unfulfilling office job after college until an unconventional career adviser, summoned with magic chopsticks, walks him through six lessons, from “There is no plan” and “Persistence trumps talent” to “Make excellent mistakes” and “Leave an imprint”.
Drive
Drawing on studies from MIT and other universities, Pink argues that rewards and punishments work for simple, mechanical tasks but can lower performance on creative, cognitive ones. What drives people instead is autonomy, mastery and purpose; his advice on money is to pay enough to take the issue off the table. The Los Angeles Times called it “short, punchy, energetic and not subtle” and said he overstated his case; it spent 159 weeks on New York Times bestseller lists.
To Sell Is Human
Pink starts from labour data showing that about one in nine American workers earn a living in sales, then adds his own survey: people in other jobs said they spent around 40 percent of their time on “non-sales selling”, persuading colleagues, clients or bosses. He reframes selling around three qualities — attunement, buoyancy and clarity — and practical skills such as pitching.
When
A book about timing, built on research in fields from chronobiology to economics. Most people move through the day in three stages, a peak, a trough and a recovery, and Pink shows the afternoon trough in the data: more negative company earnings calls, less handwashing in hospitals, fewer polyps found in colonoscopies. He then looks at breaks, beginnings, midpoints and endings. It reached No. 2 on the New York Times hardcover non-fiction list.
The Power of Regret
Pink ran two surveys for this book: the American Regret Project, which polled nearly 4,500 Americans, and the online World Regret Survey, which collected more than 16,000 regrets from people in 105 countries. He sorts them into four core regrets — foundation, boldness, moral and connection — and argues that regret, handled well, is a guide to what people value. It reached No. 3 on the New York Times hardcover list.
In What Order to Read Daniel H. Pink
None of Pink’s books depends on another, so you can read them in any order and pick by subject. Publication order does show a shift: the first two are about where the economy is going, Drive and To Sell Is Human are about how work gets done, and the last two turn to the timing and the choices of a whole life.
The early books, Free Agent Nation and A Whole New Mind, are the most tied to their moment; read them after the later books if you want to see where his ideas started. Johnny Bunko is a short side project, best for someone at the beginning of a career.
A reading path
1. Drive (2009)
2. When (2018)
3. To Sell Is Human (2012)
4. The Power of Regret (2022)
5. A Whole New Mind (2005)
The years · 1964–2022
Quick facts about Daniel H. Pink
- Known for
- Daniel H. Pink is known for turning behavioural science research into plain-language books about work, motivation and decision-making, above all Drive and his TED talk “The puzzle of motivation”.
- 1964
- Born; grows up in Columbus, Ohio
- 1995
- Chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore
- 2009
- Drive
- Born
- 23 July 1964; grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and went to Bexley High School
- Education
- Northwestern University (Truman Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa); JD, Yale Law School
- Government
- Special assistant to Labor Secretary Robert Reich, 1993–1995; chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore, 1995–1997
- Television
- Host and co-executive producer of Crowd Control, National Geographic Channel, 2014
- Readers
- More than five million copies sold, in 46 languages, by his own count
- Lives
- Washington, DC, with his wife, the lawyer Jessica Lerner
The red mark is 2009: Drive, his book on what motivates people, published the same year as his TED talk.
How Daniel H. Pink Writes: Research for Readers
Pink is not a scientist; he trained as a lawyer and worked as a political speechwriter. His books are syntheses: each takes a body of academic research — on motivation, persuasion, circadian rhythms or regret — and explains it for a general reader. Drive rests on experiments such as Sam Glucksberg’s version of the candle problem; When on studies of company earnings calls, hospital hygiene and colonoscopies.
Since To Sell Is Human he has also gathered his own data. For that book he surveyed workers about how much of their time went on persuading others; for The Power of Regret he ran the American Regret Project and the World Regret Survey, and built the book around what people wrote.
The speechwriter shows in the structure. He likes short chapters, memorable labels (autonomy, mastery and purpose; the ABCs of attunement, buoyancy and clarity, the four core regrets) and practical advice at the end of the argument. Critics have said that the same clarity can make the research sound more settled than it is, as the Los Angeles Times said of Drive; it is also why his books are so widely used in workplaces and classrooms.
Watch
The puzzle of motivation
Pink’s 2009 TED talk on the gap between what science knows about motivation and how businesses reward people, the argument he develops in Drive.
Frequently asked questions about Daniel H. Pink’s books
How many books has Daniel H. Pink written?
Seven: Free Agent Nation (2001), A Whole New Mind (2005), The Adventures of Johnny Bunko (2008), Drive (2009), To Sell Is Human (2012), When (2018) and The Power of Regret (2022). All seven are on this page.
What are Daniel H. Pink’s books in order?
Free Agent Nation (2001), A Whole New Mind (2005), The Adventures of Johnny Bunko (2008), Drive (2009), To Sell Is Human (2012), When (2018) and The Power of Regret (2022).
Where should I start with Daniel H. Pink?
With Drive (2009), his best-known book and the one most of his later work builds on. If you want something practical first, When (2018) is the easiest to apply day to day.
What is Daniel H. Pink’s most famous book?
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (2009), which spent 159 weeks on New York Times bestseller lists. His 2009 TED talk on the same subject, “The puzzle of motivation”, is one of the most watched TED talks.
What are the three elements of motivation in Drive?
Autonomy, the desire to direct your own work; mastery, the urge to get better at something that matters; and purpose, the wish to do something meaningful. Pink argues that these matter more than bonuses for creative and cognitive work, once pay is fair enough to take money off the table.
Is Daniel H. Pink a psychologist?
No. He studied at Northwestern University and Yale Law School, but has said he never practised law. He worked in government, as an aide to Labor Secretary Robert Reich and then as Al Gore’s chief speechwriter, before becoming a writer. His books explain research by psychologists and economists, and the later ones add his own surveys.
What are the four regrets in The Power of Regret?
Foundation regrets (failing to be responsible or prudent), boldness regrets (chances not taken), moral regrets (taking the low road) and connection regrets (neglecting the people who matter). Connection regrets were the largest group in his surveys.
What does When say about the best time of day to work?
Most people move through a peak, a trough and a recovery. Pink suggests analytic work for the peak, usually the morning, routine and administrative tasks for the early-afternoon trough, and creative work for the recovery. Strong night owls go through the stages in reverse.
Did Daniel H. Pink make a TV show?
Yes. He hosted and co-produced Crowd Control, a 12-episode National Geographic Channel series that premiered in November 2014 and staged experiments to change how people behave in public.
Is Daniel H. Pink still writing?
Yes. He was born on 23 July 1964 and lives in Washington, DC. His most recent book is The Power of Regret (2022); he also writes a Substack newsletter and teaches a MasterClass on sales and persuasion.
Footnotes
- Daniel H. Pink — Wikipedia
- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us — Wikipedia
- About Daniel Pink — danpink.com
- Daniel Pink on why to sell is human — Knowledge at Wharton, 2013
- Daniel Pink’s When shows the importance of timing — NPR, 2018
- The 4 major kinds of regret — Psychology Today, 2022
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Professionals take breaks. Amateurs don’t.”
— Daniel H. Pink, on When, NPR All Things Considered (2018)
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