Motivation: Gag me with a Carrot
STOP! No more books about employee motivation with a carrot or batch of carrots on the cover.
I am sick of carrots and sticks.
Don’t treat me like an elephant.
Carrot and stick (also spelled “carrot-and-stick”) is an idiom used to refer to the act of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior. The carrot represents the edible reward, while the stick refers to a punishing switch.
This is no way to treat people so why would we use this tired worn out metaphor to look at motivation.
People (and elephants) are complex. Let’s acknowledge this by getting rid of motivational cliches.
Don’t ask me to win one for the Gipper…the Gipper was from the 1920’s, find something more relevant in 2007.
My hope is that the term employee engagement will help us to see the richness, diversity, and complexity of how people work and that the influences on work are both internal and external - involving the self, leaders, organizations, customers, and the nature of work itself.
Photo Credit: This carrot is for you by http://flickr.com/photos/tambako/633358039/
David Zinger eats carrots because he likes them
not because someone gave him one for doing a good job.
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POSTED IN: management
3 opinions for Motivation: Gag me with a Carrot
Judy
Nov 22, 2007 at 8:22 am
I always thought that “carrot and stick” came from a slightly different story…
A farmer wants to ride his donkey to the market, but the donkey is stubborn and doesn’t want to move with the farmer on his back, but the donkey likes carrots. So the farmer ties a carrot to one end of a long stick. The farmer dangles the carrot out in front where the donkey can see it. But since the farmer is on the donkey’s back, every time the donkey takes a step forward, the carrot moves forward also.
So I always saw “carrot and stick” as a really great reward used to motivate team members, but one that is always kept just out of reach so nobody ever really attains it. Eventually discouragement becomes a de-motivator and a new carrot is needed.
Ian McKenzie
Nov 22, 2007 at 10:27 am
I’m with Judy on this, though a little Google digging indicates both interpretations are viable.
David Zinger
Nov 25, 2007 at 8:55 am
Good points about the carrot and stick story. I am still not happy having human motivation reduced to carrots or sticks.
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