Carrots and Sticks
I recently stumbled across a chapter in Daniel Pink’s new book Drive that discusses many reasons that rewards for performance are actually harming people in the long run. “Rewards can perform a sort of behavioral alchemy: They can transform an interesting task into a drudge. They can turn play into work. And by diminishing intrinsic motivation, they can send performance, creativity, and even upstanding behavior toppling like dominoes.”
Take a moment to read some excerpts from the chapter, Seven Reasons Carrots and Sticks (Often) Don’t Work from the book Drive.
Pink describes a studies taken which look at the effects of contingent rewards (the “if you do this, then you will get that” reward) on people. These types of rewards according to Pink, require people to forfeit some of their self-determination and independence.
Another interesting point was made from a study done with artists about contingent rewards and the effects on creativity. Researchers asked a group of artists to randomly select, from their personal work, ten commissioned and ten works that were not part of a commission. These were then viewed by a panel of esteemed individuals in the art world who were instructed to rate the works based on creativity and technique/skill. The findings are very interesting. Across the board the commissioned artworks were rated low in creativity and also in technical skill.
A study done at The Art Institute of Chicago by following the careers of the students over time concluded:
“Painters and sculptors who were intrinsically motivated, those for whom the joy of discovery and the challenge of creation were their own rewards, were able to weather the tough times–and the lack of remuneration and recognition–that inevitably accompany artistic careers.” Also, “Those students who pursued their painting and sculpture more for the pleasure of the activity itself than for extrinsic rewards have produced art that has been socially recognized as superior.”
“For right-brained undertakings–those that demand flexible problem solving, inventiveness, or conceptual understanding–contingent rewards can be dangerous…For artists, scientists, inventors, schoolchildren, and the rest of us, intrinsic motivation–the drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging and absorbing–is essential for high levels of creativity.”
Have you ever read anything by Alfie Kohn? You might do a Google search if you haven’t. He’s got some interesting ideas about learning and motivation along these same lines.
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