Do Carrots and Sticks work?

I’ve often wondered if carrot and stick methods work to motivate people. 

You know what I mean – financial bonuses, lunches, or other incentives given to people if they reach predetermined sales targets or quarterly returns. 

Companies often do this. In fact, a friend of mine recently hit a performance target at work and was financially rewarded for doing so.  

Schools (mostly in the US) have done it too - pizza for reading books, iPads for showing up to class, cash for good test scores. 

When stakes seem high and people aren’t producing, carrots and sticks often start to show up. 

But does it work? 

Sometimes. 

According to Daniel Pink in his book Drive, carrots and sticks can be helpful to motivate people to complete necessary, but boring tasks – stuffing envelopes, filing papers or scanning documents. In these cases, carrots won’t hurt, and they might actually help. If used sparingly. 

Yet, in most cases, carrots and sticks don’t work. In fact, they are terrible motivators for problem solving. Rather than sharpening creativity and clarifying our thinking, incentives often do the opposite.  

In a study conducted to measure the power of incentives, it took an average of 3.5 more minutes for groups to come up with a solution when an incentive was offered than when it wasn’t. The incentive seemed to cloud their thinking and dull their creativity.  

This is often the case. Adding pressure, narrows focus, and doesn’t allow people to see new uses for old objects. 

It also doesn’t inspire genuine motivation, a joy of discovery, desire for mastery or a sense of purpose. In other words, when those carrots and sticks are removed, performance often flatlines. So, it is best to avoid them (and any other extrinsic motivator) altogether. 

Instead, to have a genuinely motivating environment, allow people to set goals for themselves or complete tasks in their own way.  Provide baseline rewards – compensation that is adequate and fair, especially compared to people doing similar work for similar organizations. Build collegiality, genuine appreciation, and autonomy into the workplace. Make it clear how all daily duties (especially the boring ones) relate to a larger purpose.  

There are many ways to motivate people, and as a challenge this week - especially if you’re a manger - consider small ways you can create a motivating environment. A kind note, positive feedback, and providing additional autonomy are easy, and meaningful ways that inspire and intrinsically motivate employees. 

As a result, the workplace culture improves. So does long-term thinking, creativity, and the quality of people’s work.  

With so many positive outcomes from such small changes, can you afford not to?