Using the Carrot as a Stick - the Myth of Motivation

Audrey introduced Candice and Paul and was quite happy that the two were as delighted with one another as she thought that they’d be. About a year later, Candice and Paul were married. They had a little ceremony and served cake but no meal. Audrey was hurt that she was not invited.

Audrey wasn’t hurt because she introduced Candice and Paul with the expectation of free cake. She was hurt because she wanted to share in the natural consequences of something she’d done, expected some recognition. And this gets to the heart of what is perhaps the most thoughtlessly relied-upon myth: the myth of extrinsic motivation.

There is such a huge gap between research and common practice on this point of employee motivation that the average person is usually stunned to learn that virtually all formal research indicates that extrinsic motivation does not work. Offering free cake as an inducement to get friends to introduce potential couples simply doesn’t work.

Extrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from outside of the person and typically shows up in the form of the classic carrot (bonus if you achieve this goal) or stick (humiliation or demotion if you don't achieve the goal). This belief in the efficacy of extrinsic motivation is so ingrained that, as Alfie Kohn says, research reporting on conclusions seems to invariably begin, "Contrary to hypothesis."

There are a variety of reasons for this confusion about a myth being fact. I will focus on only one here. The real problem with extrinsic motivation is that it places the locus of control over the task in the hands of someone not doing it. This practically guarantees that the task won’t be done creatively nor well. Rather, it will be done rather perfunctorily; people will do what’s needed for the reward but not necessarily what is needed for the task.

If you manage people, share the consequences of their work with them. Invite them to the wedding or have a profit sharing plan or some means to create a linkage between what they have done and what results from it. But don’t confuse that with the hope of controlling their behavior as if you were dangling fish in front of dolphins at SeaWorld. Let them eat cake - just don't use it to get them to jump through hoops.