The fastest runners win the all the races, the best students get the top marks, the laziest people have the ‘worst’ luck – looks like everything is a circular argument.

No it doesn’t. ‘Right / wrong’ is an either/or proposition. It assumes there is a ‘right’ answer, but is too vague to help us find it. The other examples you cite are comparatives, with more specific criteria – much easier to evaluate.

Rewarding the behaviour you want to get and punishing that which you wish to deter is the principal control system employed by all societies.

Control leads to compliance, not motivation.

What you reward may of course be ‘intrinsic’.

Robert, the word ‘intrinsic’ means something that is inherent in the thing itself, unaffected by extrinsic factors such as rewards. So ‘what you reward’ is by definition not intrinsic.

Managers can encourage and facilitate intrinsic rewards (see my piece on The Joy of Work) but ‘motivating’ them through rewards is pie in the sky.

If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe Dan Pink: Why Rewards Don’t Work.

The fastest runners win the all the races, the best students get the top marks, the laziest people have the ‘worst’ luck – looks like everything is a circular argument. Might be a problem having a discussion about anything if one takes this perspective

Rewarding the behaviour you want to get and punishing that which you wish to deter is the principal control system employed by all societies.
What you reward may of course be ‘intrinsic’.

The right set of words delivered in the right manner does it every time.

Not every time, – sometimes, for some people, for a short while. You can’t keep pumping it into people forever, if there’s no real desire inside them.

(Unless we accept your circular logic – which I don’t – that the ‘right’ words must inevitably work – and if they don’t then you’ve got the ‘wrong’ words.)

‘You get more of what you reward’

Again – sometimes. Your article has some excellent suggestions for managers, about ways to reward and encourage employees. I particularly like your emphasis on being honest, clear and fair with people about the criteria against which they will be evaluated.

But for me, it has too much emphasis on the manager and external rewards. That might be more appropriate for a sales team than a creative team, as salespeople are likely to be more focused on extrinsic rewards than creatives.

See my article about extrinsic motivation for the pitfalls of over-emphasising rewards.

Works for dogs and people.

That sounds a bit patronising to me. Maybe I’ve not picked up your tone correctly.

I agree completely about how a person’s motivation can be lost by lack of recognition for a job well done. That really rankles and it takes a long time for the feelings to dissipate.

A great phrase which helps in remembering the right course is: ‘You get more of what you reward’. Works for dogs and people. See: How to motivate salespeople

Your theory is extremely helpful in thinking about how to manage a classroom. One) find out what motivates students. Two) teach them how to do the basics they’ll need to reach their goals. Three) get the heck out of their way. Once the kids know what it takes (for step two), most of what it takes is positive encouragement and recognition. That’s easy. This frees up more of my time to coach the students who have a hard time learning step two.

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