The mismatch between ‘what science knows and what business does!’
Here’s a great 2009 Ted talk from Daniel Pink, where he uses his old lawyer skills to make a compelling case against the accepted norms of incentives.
In a humorous and engaging way he argues there is a huge mismatch between ‘what science knows and what business does!’ Science has proved that traditional incentives such as money only work when the task being incentivised is simple and very narrow in focus. As soon as you require people to be creative or use even ‘rudimentary cognitive’ skills research has proved these types of incentives and rewards actually result in poorer performance, rather than motivating people to perform better.
It’s well worth a watch, especially if you line manage people, as he goes on to explain a few ways you can actually incentivise people that will result in higher levels of motivation and performance.
Hope you enjoy!
Martin and Elizabeth
No Comments