This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“In other words, rewards can perform a weird 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. Let’s call this the Sawyer Effect.” – Daniel H. Pink, Chapter 2: Seven Reasons Carrots and Sticks (Often) Don’t Work…, Page 35
“Extrinsic rewards can be effective for algorithmic tasks – those that depend on following an existing formula to its logical conclusion. But for more right-brain undertakings – those that demand flexible problem-solving, inventiveness, or conceptual understanding – contingent rewards can be dangerous. Rewarded subjects often have a harder time seeing the periphery and crafting original solutions.” – Daniel H. Pink, Chapter 2: Seven Reasons Carrots and Sticks (Often) Don’t Work…, Page 44
Is This An Overview?
Motivating others through extrinsic rewards and punishments
is more complex than just providing benefits.
The purpose of extrinsic motivation was to encouraging activities with
rewards to get more of the wanted activities, while discouraging activities
with punishment to get less of the activities.
The problem is that extrinsic motivation has negative effects.
When extrinsic rewards are introduced, people lose their
intrinsic interest in the activity.
Rewards transform interesting tasks into drudgery, play transforms into
work. Rewards diminish intrinsic
motivation which harms performance, creativity, and appropriate behavior. Rewards provide a temporary productivity
boost, at the cost of productivity after the boost.
Extrinsic rewards behave like an addiction, as they provide
temporary happiness while needing larger rewards later to have the same
effect. When rewarded, people do not do
more than what gives them the reward.
Rather than encourage wanted behavior, extrinsic motivation can
encourage unwanted behavior. When
rewarded for satisfying short term goals, goals imposed by others, extrinsic motivation
can induce unethical behavior as people will seek to satisfy the goal with less
regard to the consequences of the methods chosen.
Extrinsic motivation, such as money, is useful as a baseline
reward. To pay people enough for money
not to be part of their list of problems.
Rewards can make algorithmic, routine tasks more productive, but hurt
creative tasks. Rather than extrinsic
motivation, people can be intrinsically motivated to find joy in what they
do. Rather than restrict behavior,
people can be intrinsically motived through their own autonomy.
Caveats?
A use for extrinsic motivation is to
provide enough baseline rewards, but there is not enough information about
baseline rewards. There is uncertainty
about when baseline rewards become enough.
There is also a social aspect to baseline rewards, as people can be
affected by the rewards of others. The
alternative methods to motivation have mixed qualities.
