We so often get caught into “management school thinking” that we forget about common sense. We know that people don’t work just for money, we also have seen first hand recently the kinds of disasters created by grossly overpaid people, so this video should not come as a surprise. Research has identified that monetary incentives only drive performance for repetitive, mechanical tasks. For tasks requiring intellect (which is most of the work nowadays), money is only a factor if you don’t have enough of it, but additional incentive don’t drive performance.
What matters most is Autonomy (ie do your work self directed), Mastery (ie have the opportunity to grow your skills), and Purpose (ie knowing the positive impact that your work will have).
When I reflect on my work life, I find that I know this but have still too often succumbed to the concept of cash incentives for performance. Also I have seen others drive these for real reasons, mostly greed frankly. For them, implementing high cash bonuses for their teams had a real advantage : they would mechanically drive their own compensation up, regardless of the real impact of the bonuses.
So, a great video to reflect upon, and to share with your teams.
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Superegos for the digital world