Dan Pink summarises the three conditions that need to be present in a system to maximise personal commitment rather than compliance:

  • Autonomy – the ability for individuals to be able to act with choice.
  • Mastery – the individual having a clear sense of the developing personal competence and contribution to the whole.
  • Transcendent Purpose – The individuals clear sense of a purpose larger than themselves to which they make their contribution.

 
Systems designs achieve all three. Systems designs focus on purpose and put design in process.

See: Dan Pink speaking at the RSA here.