Compassion=incentives? ... RE: [Ailist] PsyBlog: Do YouBelieve in Free Will?

Mon Jan 26 14:48:18 MST 2009

Hi Lionel,

That's hard to answer in a short e-mail but here goes.

1) An 'incentive' is something that is already known to an individual for
achieving something. i.e. if you complete a project on time you will get an
incentive bonus. Personally I think incentives should be avoided at all
costs as they tend to lead to either making an ethically incorrect decisions
in order to obtain payment or paying for someone to make an ethically
correct decision that they should be making anyway.(as in an attendance
bonus).

2) Just in case - A 'reward' is something obtained for a particular act or
achievement that was not known of prior to conducting the act. As such it
cannot tempt the recipient into acting in one way or the other. A
firefighter may be rewarded for rescuing someone but they did not rescue
that person because of the presence of any reward.

There is a HUGE difference between incentive and reward that is sadly often
lost and the two terms are interchanged.

Neither in fact has anything to do with my post and neither was mentioned. I
would make the proposition that compassion requires neither incentive nor
reward. As with my example of a firefighter, acts of compassion occur
because an individual chooses to act a particular way because they care
about the outcome of a situation. 

My consistent position over many years as a manager is that incentives are a
very bad thing. They do more to get in the way of good performance than they
do to encourage it. Reward is appropriate and I would always prefer to
reward good performance with an opportunity to progress or develop (I guess
that the give a man fish vs give a man a fishing rod).

The goals of an organization or an individual do not need to be linked to a
reward. They only set a direction and generate tension to create movement.
Unfortunately (and I think Schumacher eluded to this) our materialistic
culture has linked performance and reward in a very cynical way in many
organizations. In fact to the extent that they erode the very compassion
that an organization needs to be successful. What is the usual response to
the dysfunctional organization? More incentives to try and get people to do
the right thing. This is of course insane. You must start from a position
that most people want to do the right thing. Goals only serve to highlight
what the right thing is to support the organizations aims.

As always probably more questions than answers!

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: Lionel Boxer [mailto:lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au] 
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 2:55 PM
To: stephanie at brainhygiene.com; bruce at bruceelkin.com; rdavies at rtpcompany.com
Cc: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: Compassion=incentives? ... RE: [Ailist] PsyBlog: Do YouBelieve in
Free Will?

Roger

Do you mean to say that compassion is in some way related to incentives?
Perhaps we are not talking about the same thing or perhaps we have different
perspectives/paradigms.

What I have noticed in practice and research (albeit a tangential finding)
is that incentives need to be aligned with the organisation.  If such a
case, then individual's success will be the same as the organisation's
success.

What do you mean by compassion?

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer at rmit.edu.au Graduate School of
Business my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory" 
now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net
>>> "Roger Davies" <rdavies at rtpcompany.com> 27/01/09 2:55 AM >>>
Thanks Everyone,

I enjoyed reading about both books. I especially liked Schumacher's and his
definition of 'Convergent' and 'Divergent' problems. My own thinking with
regard to commercial, industrial organizations has lead me to conclude that
what is generally missing is compassion. It is compassion that leads to
individuals contributing toward success in the best way that they can.

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Stephanie West
Allen
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 7:40 PM
To: Bruce Elkin
Cc: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: Re: [Ailist] PsyBlog: Do You Believe in Free Will?

Thanks very much, Bruce. I just ordered Schumacher's book. Is this a  
good overview?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Guide_for_the_Perplexed

A question about another book. I am told that SOPHIE'S WORLD is a  
good book for an overview of philosophy. Here's its wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie's_World

Has anyone here read it? If so, what did you think?

Best,

Stephanie

On Jan 23, 2009, at 5:27 PM, Bruce Elkin wrote:

> By the way, Schumacher's book is called "A Guide For the Perplexed." 
> Tailor made for me!
>
> Cheers!
> Bruce

_______________________________________________
The Appreciative Inquiry Discussion List is hosted by the David Eccles
School of Business at the University of Utah. Jack Brittain is the list
administrator. For subscription information, go to:
http://mailman.business.utah.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/ailist