One of the first blog posts I wrote five years ago: You Get the Behavior You Reward, featured the wonderful book from Alfie Kohn: “Punished by Rewards – The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, As, Praise, and Other Bribes.” Here’s a brief summary of the book from its web site:
“Drawing from hundreds of studies, Kohn demonstrates that people actually do inferior work when they are enticed with money, grades, or other incentives. Programs that use rewards to change people’s behavior are similarly ineffective over the long run. Promising goodies to children for good behavior can never produce anything more than temporary obedience. In fact, the more we use artificial inducements to motivate people, the more they lose interest in what we’re bribing them to do. Rewards turn play into work, and work into drudgery.”
One of the stories from that book has always stuck with me, and for some reason, I found myself thinking about it again this week. Here’s the story:
Each day an elderly man endured the insults of a crowd of ten-year-olds as they passed his house on their way home from school. One afternoon, after listening to another round of jeers about how stupid and ugly and bald he was, the man came up with a plan. He met the children on his lawn the following Monday and announced that anyone who came back the next day and yelled rude comments about him would receive a dollar. Amazed and excited, they showed up even earlier on Tuesday, hollering epithets for all they were worth. True to his word, the old man ambled out and paid everyone. “Do the same tomorrow,” he told them, “and you’ll get twenty-five cents for your trouble.” The kids thought that was still pretty good and turned out again on Wednesday to taunt him. At the first catcall, he walked over with a roll of quarters and again paid off his hecklers. “From now on,” he announced, “I can give you only a penny for doing this.” The kids looked at each other in disbelief. “A penny?” they repeated scornfully. “Forget it!” And they never came back again.
A clever old man for sure.
It is often assumed that adding an incentive, in this case a monetary one, will increase a person’s motivation to do something. However, that is not what is happening here.
The old man started rewarding the kids for something they had been doing voluntarily and somehow found some joy in doing. As soon as money was introduced, the children viewed the task as something they did to get paid. Once the money was taken away, they lost interest.
And that was the old man’s goal, to take away their intrinsic motivation.
Kohn suggests this is what many parents and teachers are doing, killing off the interest of kids from doing something they like by introducing rewards into the process.
It’s a good lesson, and one that came just in time.
Since I am trying to reach 1,000 followers, I think I’ve come up with a plan that will help get me there sooner.
I am going to find 100 people who currently do not read my blog, and pay them $10 a day NOT to read my blog. After a week, I’ll cut it to $5, then a week later to $1, and then a few days later, there will be no payment at all. At this point, they will have lost interest in NOT following my blog, and so they will begin to follow. Before you know it, I will be over 1,000 followers.
Think of all the places this approach could work:
- kids not cleaning their room? start off by paying them to NOT clean their room, and then slowly reduce the payment to $0. There will be pent-up demand to clean their rooms.
- kids not doing homework? pay them NOT to do it – we know where this is leading…
- somebody won’t go on a date with you? Pay them NOT to go on a date with you. Keep doing so for a few weeks, and then stop paying the person. Before you know it, the person will be begging you to go on a date with them.
The possibilities are endless.
There is, of course, the chance I completely misread the message Alfie Kohn is trying to make.
I’ll let you know how my plan for getting followers works out…
*image from verywell mind
Interesting information! Love the story of the old man!!
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the story of the old man is a great way to explain Kohn’s point about why rewards often don’t work…
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I have to say I love your interpretation of this! By the way, do I qualify for this temporary payment if I am already following you? I can threaten to unfollow if it helps. Also, Yay! you have only 50 more to go to achieve your goal of 1000!
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sorry, existing followers do not qualify, and if any leave, they have to pay to leave 🙂
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Haha, oops. I better stay!
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It sounds like a good plan to get followers, to me. But before you start it, first let me unfollow you. Then you can start paying me not to follow you.
I think I’m going to pay my neighbor $20 to turn his music up, and then start reducing his payment, and see how well that works.
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Great idea, Tippy!!! I, too, shall ‘unfollow’ so that I can re-follow and reap the rewards! Frankly, I could use the money! Good luck with your neighbor, by the way … let us know how it works out! Perhaps I can pay my neighbor to let her dogs out to bark their fool heads off while I’m working!
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Either this plan of Jim’s is going to work, or we’re all going to end up frustrated and broke.
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bu then once you’re frustrated and broke, it can only get better from there…
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That’s encouraging. Pfffffttt!
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🙂
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Likely the latter, knowing Jim!
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yes, I do have that reverse Midas touch… 🙂
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sorry, existing followers do not qualify, and if any leave, they have to pay to leave 🙂
and good luck with your neighbor’s dogs; let me know if it works…
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Now, Jim … was that the rule before you eavesdropped and overheard Tippy and I discussing this, or did you implement this rule after the fact? I’m considering phoning my lawyer about the statute here …
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it’s in the fine print somewhere of my Borden’s Blather user agreement…
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Hmmmm … funny, but I don’t seem to have a copy of that agreement. Let me just check with my attorney …
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is Rudy your attorney? 🙂
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How did you know??? 🤣🤣
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I just figured that sometimes there’s a fine line between really despising someone and really liking someone… 🙂
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True … a fine line between love and hate. In truth, though, there once was a time that I greatly respected Rudy. He blew that when he threw his lot in with the Bozo in the Oval.
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Yes, Rudy should have left the public eye about a year after 9/11. He would have been remembered fondly…
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Agreed! He was the rock for us all in the days and weeks after 9/11. Whatever possessed him to throw it all away to become a part of the circus act, I will never understand.
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it’s amazing how my perception of him has changed so dramatically. I think I just read something where his daughter is telling people to vote for Biden…
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Yep, I saw that in a couple of places yesterday! She said to vote for Biden/Harris to “end the Trump reign of terror”! Love it! I don’t imagine ol’ Rudy was too happy, though!
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I’m sure Rudy was not happy…
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sorry, existing followers do not qualify, and if any leave, they have to pay to leave 🙂
let me know how the plan with your neighbor’s music works out..
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You have a sound business strategy, which is no surprise from a professor of business at such an erudite university. Somehow I get the sense I’m being snookered.
Before I try my plan out on my neighbor, I’ll first have to depart with a few dollars in my wallet. This will require some time for me to build the courage.
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a pair of noise canceling headphones might be cheaper…
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Hmm. Good idea.
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There is much food for thought here, Jim. Like most parents, I used what I thought of as “positive reinforcement” when my children were young, and never thought that I was making a mistake, but I see the logic here. Loved the story of the old man! As for your idea … well, I think Tippy may have started something here that could possibly throw a wrench into your idea, but … heck, go for it! Let me know how it works out!
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I’m a fan of positive reinforcement as well, I guess we just have to be aware of some potential unintended consequences.
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Balance … it’s all about finding the right balance, and what works for one child may not be the right mix for another.
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and that’s one of the challenges of teaching, finding what works for each child…
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Haha, it may not work in every case, Jim, but that old man was pretty clever. Okay, you forced me to check my stats and I have 3524 followers on Robbie’s Inspiration. How cool is that! I am not going to check stats on posts though because I like the freedom of blogging as I please.
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wow – congrats on so many followers! I’ve been checking much less than I was a week ago, so the detox seems to be working 🙂
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I like that story with the older man. Psychology is a wonderful tool. I think we’ve discussed this subject before. I agree that rewarding kids anytime they do anything is asking for trouble. The result is they’ll get lazier and lazier. On the other hand, not all people respond to intrinsic rewards. In a perfect world, they would, but human nature is all over the map. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with an occasional extrinsic reward. Let’s say your boss takes the time to write a personal letter thanking you for your contributions to the company. I suppose some people wouldn’t call this a “reward,” but my belief is an occasional gesture such as that carries a lot of weight.
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I agree that the occasional extrinsic reward can be quite valuable…
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as a teacher, I know this to be true and never use this method. I love the story of the old man and good luck to you jim. does it count if I stop following and then begin anew after receiving my reward from you? asking for a friend.
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thanks, Beth. And please tell your friend that unfortunately existing followers do not qualify, and if any leave, they have to pay to leave 🙂
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I just bought some stickers to encourage my daughter to use the potty. Guess I’ll keep the flower and butterfly stickers for myself!
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or, give her stickers when does not go, and then slowly stop giving her stickers when she does not go. then she will be excited to go,and you won’t have to use stickers… 🙂
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I can see why this approach is a bit confusing! 😅
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I’m good at taking a simple concept and completely confusing people when I explain it… 🙂
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Jim, I’m wondering if you have an incentive program worked out for current subscribers to BB? If you paid us to go away and not read or follow your blog, would any of us leave, and if so, for how long? Also, please prepare an e-transfer in the amount of $1,600 to Kuched. I’m here to help get the Cool Hundo required for Borden’s Blather to join the 1K Club. 🙂
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there is a plan for current subscribers who are thinking about unfollowing so they can then get paid: “existing followers do not qualify, and if any leave, they have to pay to leave :)”
keep your eyes out for that transfer – it’s in the cloud somewhere… 🙂
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Hi, Jim. Great plan. I’m not leaving, but its been tough trying to hit publish lately. Will catch up soon.
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I thought you were already paying me to read your blog! You always take the time to leave me a little something when I post. Seriously though, you couldn’t pay me not to read your stuff. I find your blog one of the most enjoyable of all that I follow. You will be at 1K in no time!
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thanks for the kind words, Brad. I enjoy reading your posts because you have taught me so much about poetry over the past year!
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I love that story, Jim. Good luck with getting your new followers. 🙂
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thanks, Norah. It is a good story with a good lesson…
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It is. I’m linking to your post in my next. 🙂
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thanks, Norah! look forward to reading your post…
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I hope I haven’t misrepresented you, Jim, though I’ve probably confused everyone as well as myself. 🙂
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no more than I already did 🙂
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I wonder which will come first: your 1,000th follower or your kids cleaning their rooms? And how will you explain to your wife all those women pleading for a date with you? This could be interesting…😉
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with all these payments I have to make for these things to happen, I won’t be able to enjoy any of the benefits if they actually happen! 🙂
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You need to find a rich woman to take you on those dates! Be honest, you haven’t really thought this through, have you? 😂
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I need you to be my wing man! Plus my wife might start wondering why all these rich women are starting to hang around me… 🙂
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Just tell her accountancy is sexy. I’m sure she’ll believe you…
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I’ve been telling her that for years and she still doesn’t believe me…
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Some women are hard to convince…
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Hi Jim,
Kohn also advocates that eliminating grades in courses improves learning. Over my 40 years of teaching courses I found that traditional grading improves effort and learning relative to the students who took my courses on a pass-fail basis. I’m a firm believer that grading motivates learning.
I repeat once again my example of the 60+ students in a political science course at Harvard who were expelled for cheating on homework. Their excuse was that, since they were assured of all getting an A grade in the course irrespective of their homework and examination performance, it wasn’t worth their effort try very hard in the course. They elected to put their maximum effort into courses where they were not assured of receiving an A grade.
Most of the students cheated in the course where they were assured of receiving an A grade. But they forgot that Harvard takes its Honor Code rather seriously when students are caught cheating.
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the story about the Harvard students doesn’t see to make any sense. If they were getting an A regardless, why did they even bother doing the homework, let alone cheat on it? And if the grade is not dependent on homework, why was copying considered cheating?
Also, I think Kohn and others point out that rewards might work for short-term learning/memorization, other forms of evaluation might be better for longer term retention and learning.
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I’ll pay you a dollar NOT to read this comment. Oops! Too late! 😁
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dang! I could have used that dollar… 🙂
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I wonder how Kohn views six and seven figure incentive bonuses many corporate execs are eligible for annually. I’ve always been amazed at how boards and shareholders have been convinced to pay them several times their salaries for doing things covered in their job descriptions, which a salary should compensate them for. The old man is a genius.
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My guess is that those bonuses do a good job of focusing an executive’s attention on whatever he or she is being evaluated on, and they may start to lose sight of the big picture, or make decisions that enable them to hit the goal, but actually harm the company in the long run…
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Yay! Alfie Kohn. He was there before Daniel Pink was out of diapers!
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yes, Alfie was quite the trailblazer!
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Nice story, but I think the reverse psychology won’t work on me even as a kid haha
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it was worth a shot… 🙂
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Haha..reverse Psychology always works I used to tell Lily that she wouldn’t like something and she would beg to try it …she now eats anything…although she does give me that knowing smile now when I try it…Some interesting comments, Jim…hope you soon reach your milestone…Have a great weekend 🙂
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maybe the best time to use reverse psychology is on someone young enough to not be aware of what you are trying to do… 🙂
it seems to have worked out well for Lily!
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I think so, Jim as now she older she knows what I am doing …no flies on that one…
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🙂
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ha ha, like your train of thought here Jim
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thanks, Peter!
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Paying my kids to N0T clean their rooms? Gee, why didn’t you tell me this sooner! 🙂
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let me know how it works out… 🙂
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Haha! You are too late. Oh they would definitely take the money now and laugh at me, being that they are 18 and 21!
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you’re never too old to trick your own kids… 🙂
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Haha! But pretty sure thar at this age this would backfire!
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maybe you can threaten them that you are going to start charging rent if they don’t keep their rooms clean… 🙂
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LOL! I really can’t for they actually do a good job at keeping their rooms clean! But when they were younger….Oh gosh!
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whatever psychology you were using when they were little just took a few years to kick in 🙂
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Better late than never, right? 🙂
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yes, indeed…
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😊
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thanks for the mention, and you explained my tongue in cheek post better than I did!
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Nice trick , worth trying ✋
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thanks! as long as you don’t run out of money first 🙂
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Of course not instead giving brings more back!!! 😀
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🙂
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the world of reverse psychology needs more research considering the tremendous applications in everyday world !! #MyWordsKraft
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yes, behavioral economics is a fascinating field of study…
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