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 the hecklers. From now on, he announced, I can give you only a penny for doing this. The kids looked at each other in disbelief. Business plans and commission plans and other reward programs seem always to be under construction.
Most business people believe it is because of a truth about human nature.
The truth about human nature is that rewards actually undermine our interest in the task at hand. Everyone has seen rewards work at one time or another. Despite there boldness and strangeness, though, the radical idea that rewards might actually damage quality and productivity seems to be gaining a shaky foothold among some companies. The forward-thinking companies still have their share of incentive plans and commission schedules, but some are looking harder at the faults in those plans. Under the direction of a new CEO, the bank changed from an order-taking culture to a service and sales culture.