Article: Why Goals Lower Creativity

Twenty years ago, The Boston Globe published an article on how traditional forms of motivation diminish creativity.  For the most part, this is consistent with the goal-free philosophy.  Organizational goals are extrinsic forms of motivation that often degrade performance rather than enhance it.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Psychologists have been finding that rewards can lower performance levels, especially when the performance involves creativity.

A related series of studies shows that intrinsic interest in a task — the sense that something is worth doing for its own sake — typically declines when someone is rewarded for doing it.

If a reward — money, awards, praise, or winning a contest — comes to be seen as the reason one is engaging in an activity, that activity will be viewed as less enjoyable in its own right.

***

Researchers offer several explanations for their surprising findings about rewards and performance.

First, rewards encourage people to focus narrowly on a task, to do it as quickly as possible and to take few risks. “If they feel that ‘this is something I have to get through to get the prize,’ they’re going to be less creative,” Amabile said.

Second, people come to see themselves as being controlled by the reward. They feel less autonomous, and this may interfere with performance. “To the extent one’s experience of being self-determined is limited,” said Richard Ryan, associate psychology professor at the University of Rochester, “one’s creativity will be reduced as well.”

Finally, extrinsic rewards can erode intrinsic interest. People who see themselves as working for money, approval or competitive success find their tasks less pleasurable, and therefore do not do them as well.

You can read the entire article at Studies Find Reward Often No Motivator by Alfie Kohn.

P.S. Antony, thanks for sending me this information.

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Head Shaving FUNdraiser

Some of you may know that my sister, Deb, and her husband, Gary, are traveling the US in an RV. During their year-long trip, they will be raising money for children with cancer through a partnership with St. Baldrick’s. Gary got the idea for this trip after reading “Goal-Free Living.”

Yesterday, they had a big event in Boston. There were over 20 people who got their head shaved, and the event raised approximately $14,000. It was a blast.

Want to see a video clip of the day? Click here to watch Fox’s (television) montage. And yes, the voice you hear in the background is yours truly. I was the MC for the day.

If you want to learn more, or make a donation, please go to theSurvivorRV.com.

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Quotes in CIO Magazine

Today I was quoted in CIO magazine’s article entitled, “The Role of IT in Innovation: Friend or Foe?” (click the title to read the article)

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How to Leverage the Pain vs. Gain Mentality

In an earlier blog entry, I discuss the power of language. I want to explore this a bit further today.

Here’s my variation of the “Asian disease problem” mentioned in that earlier blog entry:

Which would you prefer?

• OPTION 1: A guaranteed gain of $75,000?
• OPTION 2: An 80% chance of gaining $100,000 with a 20% chance of getting nothing?

When I give a speech and ask the audience this question, 75% choose Option 1. This percentage is consistent across all groups, regardless of who is in the audience.

Ok, what about the following? Which would you choose?

• Option 3: A certain loss of $75,000?
• Option 4: An 80% chance of losing $100,000 with a 20% chance of not losing anything?

When audiences answer this one, 99% choose option 4.

This once again supports the premise that people will take risks to reduce losses, yet will be more risk averse when it comes to increasing gains.

Interestingly, when you look at these options, even though most people choose options 1 and 4, options 2 and 3 give you better returns. On average, you will gain $80,000 with option 2 and will lose $80,000 with option 4.

Look around and you may begin to see examples of advertisers focusing on losses rather than gains, with stellar results. For example…

How many mattress commercials have you heard that say, “Buy our xyz bed and you will get your best night’s sleep ever.” Yawn. Boring. The commercial may put me to sleep, but it’s not going to get me to buy a bed.

Consider this actual advertisement. “If your mattress is 10 years old, it weighs twice its original weight due to the dust mites that accumulate over the years.” Ouch! This makes me want to replace my mattress now.

Instead of selling customers on how great your product or service is, show them the downside of using a less reliable alternative. As a friend of mine says, “If you need open heart surgery, would you shop for a cardiologist based on price?” She then launches into the risk associated with not getting it (your product/service) right.

What examples have you seen of great sales pitches, advertisements, or anything else that uses this concept?

P.S. One place where this concept apparently does not apply is on TV game shows. I see people on “Deal or No Deal” risk a certain $500,000 for a 50% chance of winning $1 million. Their interviewing process must do a great job at finding the few people who really do take risks to increase their gains.

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How Everyone Can Be Best…NOT

Today I received a research study on business trends. Trend #2 was “Innovation.” They said…

“Only 50 percent of the executives surveyed believe their organizations are ‘top in class’ in innovation. This number shows that there is room for organizations to grow in their approach and position on innovation.”

Huh?

That’s like saying, “Because only 50 percent of drivers are better than average, there is room for improvement.”

Of course there isn’t. You can only have 50 percent of the people being better than average. That’s what the definition of average is!

Hard to believe there can be more than 50 percent who are “top in class.” Must be one heck of a class.

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