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Ducks In A Row: Carrots vs. Acknowledgements

by Miki Saxon

Daniel Pink offers up some interesting thoughts on why carrots don’t bestow the benefits of employee engagement.

The idea that carrots aren’t the best management approach isn’t new, but he points out something that is often overlooked.

We forget that mastery is something human beings seek because we’re human beings. We like to get better at stuff, because it’s inherently satisfying. That’s why people do recreational sports, why people play musical instruments on the weekend, why people do crafts and things.

However, I do believe that rewards have their purpose, not as the motivation to do something, but as the acknowledgement that it was done well.

If that were not true then all of the various competitions associated with what people do on their own time for pleasure wouldn’t exist.

We humans have a strong tendency to compare what we do with similar things done by others.

We treasure not only the prizes, trophies and ribbons of our more formalized efforts, but also the everyday comments when others recognize how well we do it.

From the outside you may not see much difference between carrots and acknowledgement, but when you are on the receiving end the difference is glaring—and the difference is in the presentation.

Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”

Managers who cling to carrots instead of acknowledgements are crazy.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

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