{"id":48097,"date":"2021-08-28T14:51:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T18:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=48097"},"modified":"2021-09-09T15:18:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T19:18:29","slug":"carrot-and-stick-motivation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/carrot-and-stick-motivation\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the Carrot and Stick Motivation Model Still Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the carrot and stick motivation? Is the reward-and-punishment approach to motivation still effective? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrot and stick motivation is an old-school motivational approach that involves offering rewards for desirable behavior, and inflicting punishment for undesirable behavior. According to Daniel H. Pink, the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us<\/em>, the carrot and stick approach is still generally effective but carrots (extrinsic rewards) aren’t the main driver of performance. Rather, they act as a “baseline reward” or a “hygiene factor.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll take a look at the psychology behind the carrot and stick motivation approach and why “carrots” are ineffective at driving performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Do Carrots and Sticks Still Work? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This \u201ccarrot and stick\u201d motivation model is still generally <\/em>effective in the workplace. At a minimum, compensation serves as a \u201cbaseline reward\u201d or a \u201chygiene factor\u201d\u2014if it\u2019s not there, the worker cannot focus. She\u2019ll obsess over how unfair her situation is and be anxious about her financial problems. So high enough financial rewards are necessary for a baseline <\/em>of motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in the long term, extrinsic rewards (e.g. financial incentives) actually decrease motivation. This idea may sound counterintuitive\u2014if you enjoy something when you do it for free, then wouldn\u2019t adding money only make it better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Pink argues that rewards require people to forfeit some autonomy<\/strong>\u2014if a person is doing something by herself, she\u2019s fully in control of her behavior. But once she starts doing it for money, someone else is pulling her lever, and she no longer feels fully in control of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extrinsic rewards also quash the cognitive dissonance that comes with unrewarded work. Cognitive dissonance works like this\u2014when volunteering, a person subconsciously reasons, \u201cwell I\u2019m not getting paid for this work, so if I\u2019m working hard, I must enjoy it.\u201d Once a person starts getting paid, she instead reasons, \u201cwell, I don\u2019t really enjoy the work, but it\u2019s fine since I\u2019m getting paid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rewards Encourage Short-Term Thinking<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In addition to impinging on autonomy, extrinsic rewards can narrow the focus<\/a> of our decision making<\/a> to short-term effects, ignoring long-term benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers found that public companies that devote more resources to quarterly earnings guidance deliver lower long-term growth rates<\/strong>. <\/a>The causes are unclear but may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n