Every once in a while, i’ll come across another article or video explaining the basic premise of “Punished By Rewards” – that is, that rewards are a punishment that are controlling mechanisms and don’t lead to the results you would hope for when giving them. If you haven’t read the book “Punished By Rewards“, I can not encourage you enough. Go read it. It is the single most important book you can EVER READ. I’m dead serious. It is that important.
If you can’t read the book, at least watch the above video and then consider the inevitable conclusion and how you should immediately re-evaluate EVERYTHING you do. How you interact with your co-workers, your children, your boss. Everything.
What I think you’ll come up with is the same as I have: incentives are a great way to kill someones interest and have little value whatsoever for the most part.
I have read the book, and it’s pretty good. I completely agree with you, and as a parent of three, I am absolutely committed to not using reward systems to motivate them to do what I want them to do.
I’m committed because:
1. It takes the kid’s focus away from where it should be, and he gets fixated on the reward;
2. A parent must constantly tinker with the rewards systems as the child gets bored with the rewards (that’s a lot of work for ME!);
3. It would be tempting to use that parenting tool too often (perhaps that’s just me, but I suspect not); and
4. I think it’s more respectful of children (and adults and humans in general) to just say : “This is what you must do, and now I’m going to help you.” rather than trying to trick them into thinking *they* really want to do it, when really they’re after the prize.
Reward systems may work in the short-term, but I think the unintended consequences that often occur as a result are more damaging to the development of a first-handed way of looking at reality in the long-term.