Dana Dolan found an interesting quote from Richard Templeton of Texas Instruments. Reward Innovators with Harder Problems:
In the Knowledge Economy, motivating knowledge workers is critically important. I loved this quote from an interview with Richard Templeton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Instrument (TI), You need concentration if you want innovation: Interview (People's Daily Online, January 5, 2006)
"the biggest thing you do to reward great business people and great technological people is to give them harder problems."
The post goes into more detail, with Dana providing more suggestions on how to make this work for the knowledge worker (not just the manager). In essence, the knowledge worker needs to be self-aware enough to see the next challenging work and seek it out. I know for myself that boredom creates trouble.
What's your next challenge?