Carrots and Sticks: Unlocking the power of incentives

[felpaluche]

RSA is a fighting force. The videos are amazing.

[proTanagonist]

@theRSAorg i take pride in recognizing and identifying a lot of the material used in these RSA videos. feels great when i keep up and my friends scratch their head.

[kjelle90]

Incentives are personal. They're not common for all people on this planet. Yeah sure you need money to survive. But let me ask you this. Why do you think Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla did whatever they did? Why do you think Neil deGrasse Tyson is working with Astronomy? Why do you think Peter Forsberg played hockey? All the people got different incentives and you don't really need a carrot and a stick to get things done. There's no common incentive. Check out one of my playlist for more info.

[pjamesbda]

Something very disconcerting in having the fundementals of human behavior reduced to how chickens behave. Yet, if you can get around that, and realize that managment in business actually do believe that none of the chickens (humans) wll ever realize their predictable behavior results more and more osedious methods of control. They are quite shocked, and call the chicken "stupid" when instead of performing as train, it says "Fuck You".

[nachoijp]

@pjamesbda you just gave me the idea I was needing to complete a presentation... THANK YOU! XD

[pjamesbda]

@nachoijp - glad to help. Drop a note, or better yet a link. Rogue Chickens UNITE!!

[Tengu49]

5 People got the stick...LOL!

[CasperBHansen]

Just let people get the education they want and let them educate themselves when they want (education today is more like slavery and forced learning, which isn't effective AT ALL), and lastly let them work with what they want. Now you have eliminated the need to incentivise their performance as they'll work with a natural interest in the subject.

[aizik2005]

is this a full version?

[theRSAorg]

@aizik2005 No this is the edited version. You can download the audio in full from the RSA website or from iTunes. 

[cyclop41]

blue just doesnt mix well with red

[elchafa]

Sorry but I have a comment unrelated to the talk: The blue screen at the begining is too blue, not very comfortable to watch, even though it's just for a few secs.

[theRSAorg]

@elchafa Thanks for the feedback - we're currently looking to replace it. Totally understand the aversion to electric blue... :)

[elchafa]

@theRSAorg :) Yeah sure, that blue penetrates my mind and makes me have bad thoughts lol

[SharedProphet]

Wow, so wrong. See the book Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn.

[Phazon77]

What is the name of his Book?

[theRSAorg]

@Phazon77 It's called - 'Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done' (2010)

[bluefootedpig]

I really like the new format of cuts, very nice!

[theRSAorg]

@bluefootedpig Thanks so much for the great feedback

[bluefootedpig]

@theRSAorg It just seems to run so much cleaning, helping to remove those long pauses and really get down to the core of the information. With the long format, I tend to drive off during the silence and miss what the next person is saying. Keep up the good work and any animations are always greatly appreciated!

[MarkoKraguljac]

Great talk from previous century. Is this the last attempt to patch-up sick, collapsing  system?

[TemporalOnline]

Wait! @9:10, IIRC, there was a TED talk that the speaker said that if we make a commitment and then later we talked to someone about that commitment, somewhat that would wash out the will to do so because the brain would think that you already got that thing, or something about that.

Now I'm stuck. I understand the differences between the two lectures (IIRC), but again, they are diametrically opposed to each other in this particular issue.

But I guess the important thing here was the incentives.

[bluefootedpig]

@TemporalOnline I see the problem, and the difference is slight. When you are doing your goal, you tell no one. But I think that if you are going to do a wager, you need an unbiased group. So like if your co-worker or someone who doesn't care says, "i'll pay you 100 bucks to not smoke, but every cig you smoke you owe me 10 bucks", then you want to tell someone who is going to call you on it, while your mother will forgive you. I think that is what he is pointing out.

[TemporalOnline]

@bluefootedpig Agreed, thank you!

[tblaxxable]

@bluefootedpig disco 1

[bluefootedpig]

@tblaxxable Not sure that is an improper use of 'like'. I was using like in the sense that it is similar, while he is pointing out when people use the word like in improper times. Unless my use of like is improper at that instance, but seeing how like is to draw a similarity and i launched into an example right after like I feel is a very proper word at this point.

[tblaxxable]

@bluefootedpig Believe me, that is incorrect use of the word like. Since I'm here now I will also point out that it is incorrect to start a sentence with But. Secondly is also incorrect to proceed the word and with a comer and thirdly you can have a wager and acheive a goal but you cannot do a wager and do a goal. A wager and a goal is noun and you have used it as a verb. So there! Back to school for you.

[bluefootedpig]

@tblaxxable Well, thank you for correcting me, while I doubt I'll can remember everything, the very least I shall attempt to remember that you acheive, aquire, etc a goal, and it is not something you do. Goal is a noun, not a verb. Thank you :)

[tyjet1]

really don't like the 15minute format btw. It feels too cut-up.

but thx anyway!

[PacoBell]

Seems to me like this kind of motivation is geared toward people who are self-deluded and rarely self-reflective. It's like auto-pilot for rationality.

[imorriso1]

@PacoBell Alas, people, even smart people, aren't rational most of the time. The "rational human" is a myth, especially where habit is involved. Overcoming our built-in biases and irrationality isn't something that being "self-reflective" can reliably overcome... it is, after all, hard-wired! Fortunately, knowing our intrinsic cognitive limitations allows us to try to overcome them.

The "Predictably Irrational" blog talks about stuff like this all the time, and I highly recommend it.

[edheldude]

@imorriso1 Hear hear! I haven't read the blog but the book with the same name by Dan Ariely is a great read.

[imorriso1]

@edheldude The opposite for me! His book is on my ever growing reading list, but the blog is on my daily RSS feed.