The studies this thing was based on forgot one thing: stress.  While they gave people a big reward, the fact there was a big reward for cognitive skills probably gave the people a ton of stress which caused them to screw up.  I mean you don't get a lot of oppertunities to make 2 months salary for a little test all the time.  Plus I know someone who just got a 10% pay cut and is now much more unmotivated to do hard work.

I think self direction and mastery are important to people personally but there's a lot more going on than that.  And this is the huge problem with psychology, you miss the little things or you've got ideological blinders on and your theory is bunk. 

BTW, as someone with a degree in management, I know the idea this is based on is pretty old.

Hierarchy of Needs

I also forget the name of it, but there's another theory based on positive and negative motivators.  Basically you've got things like money where a lack of it is a negative motivator, but doesn't positively motivate you if you have a lot of it, but you've got other things which can positively or negatively motivate you.

WARK!

Thus Spoketh Winterclaw: a blog about a Winterclaw who speaks from time to time.

 

(using Poser Pro 2014 SR3, on 64 bit Win 7, poser units are inches.)