One of the frequent excuses I get from managers in my MBA classes for why things don’t get done or don’t work the way they should work is “because there are no incentives”. Why is work late? Because, I am told, there are no incentives for doing it on time. Why are projects late, overbudget, or done poorly? Because, I am told, the incentive for on time, on budget, and quality is insufficient? How do you improve performance?” I ask. You guessed it, I am told to give people more, better, or different incentives. I can’t tell you the number of times I have been told that if you just “incentivize them”, the problem (whatever the problem is) will be resolved. Incentives have become THE answer. Unfortunately, they may be the wrong answer according to Dan Pink in this TED video. What do YOU THINK?
I assume that when Dan Pink spoke about the ROWE system and said, “no schedule” you didn’t leap out of your seat and run around the room with your arms flailing.
No, no arm flailing.