The Argument Against Incentive Plans
In his excellent book, Drive, Daniel Pink makes a compelling argument against the use of if, then incentives. He professes that cash incentives may have been effective motivators in the twentieth century, but may, in fact, create the wrong behavioral results in today’s organizations. In the book, he states that “Rewards can perform a weird sort of behavioral alchemy: They can transform an interesting task into a drudge. They can turn play into work.” He goes on to note what he calls “The Seven Deadly Flaws” of incentive plans:
1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation.
2. They can diminish performance.
3. They can crush creativity.
4. They can crowd out good behavior.
5. They can encourage cheating, shortcuts, ...
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