What methods of employee motivation in IT really work?

Good employee motivation is essentially the most important condition for the success of any company. Not only in IT, but especially in IT. After all, it is known that a motivated employee can do work many times faster and, more importantly, better.
I must say that there is a great deal known about all sorts of methods for motivating employees . It would seem that there is nothing easier - read, implement and get effective and motivated employees.
However, recently there are more and more articles where the authors write that financial motivation is evil. For example, one of the best Joel Spolsky articles on the dangers of bonuses . And some even write that the carrot and stick method does not work anymore .
Moreover, many managers in Russia still do not understand the importance of motivation and loyalty of employees and pay insufficient attention to this issue, believing that the employee should be satisfied with the fact of working in the company.
At the same time, there are many books and articles, where some managers and managers tell others about which methods of motivation are most effective. But do they really know about it? Isn't it more correct to learn about the best methods of motivation from those who are trying to motivate them?
I am not going to write here another article about motivation - there are so many of them, although I could, as I was a programmer and a manager and tried different methods of motivation for myself and others. But now I would just like to ask a few questions.

I would like to ask questions not to managers who have read all the possible books about motivation, but to employees who are trying to motivate.

Think and write in the comments, which of the methods of motivation most strongly affect you?
Are premiums useless and harmful in your particular case? Prizes for what you consider most and least motivating?