[Ailist] incentives

Wed Jan 28 12:46:33 MST 2009

Hi Madelyn

I could not agree more. I too experienced an organization that went through
such a change with a similar result. I have also seen the same happen from
the outside with several other companies. As a manager I have always started
from the perspective that all members of the organization want to give of
their best. Maybe for no other basic reason than it makes them feel good and
the work day passes quickly but that in itself is a fine reason. Only in a
very, very small percentage have I found this not to be the case. In my mind
the role of the manager is to help people be able to realize the best
contribution they can make within the confines of having to operate the
business. In some cases this means letting a valuable individual move to
another organization because they can no longer be developed within your
own.

I also very much agree with your last sentence. Members of the organization
have to be viewed as people and not human resources. 

I believe it comes back to a central tenet. Does the organization structure
exist to distribute power and control over its members or does it exist to
harness the power  of its members in a controllable manner. Members can only
be valued as individuals in the latter case. In the former they are a
resource to be managed. I don't believe that any organization is a pure
extreme of each case but there are definitely those that lean more heavily
in one or the other direction.

Thank you for joining in

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: Madelyn Blair [mailto:pelerei at mac.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 1:28 PM
To: Roger Davies
Cc: 'Alice Leibowitz'; ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: Re: [Ailist] incentives

Roger, 

You said, What is the 

outcome for an organization whose members feel that they have to violate
their values in order to remain within the organization? 

Having lived through a reorganization that led to the organization changing
its values -- and coming into conflict with my own -- I left the
organization. As it turned out, most of the best staff in the organization
did the same thing. (The organization lost about 10% of staff who
voluntarily left in the first year.) An organization risks losing those who
have the greatest flexibility in their careers, and these are very often
those who are the best performers. 

And while I have you, et al, nowhere in this discussion has anyone talked of
the natural incentives that comes from working in a particular field with
good colleagues who inspire you regardless of the management. In some recent
work with scientists in the Federal Government, I have found many who are
more concerned with performing well in order to remain a solid member of
their profession. Surely this exists elsewhere, too. As a manager myself, I
am always looking for ways in which I can harness this natural drive for
excellence. With a little thought, it is effortless and is appreciative and
generative as the individual feels more valued because you are drawing from
them as a person, not as a 'human resource'. 

Madelyn

Madelyn Blair, Ph.D.
Pelerei, Inc.
Turning Vision into Reality
www.pelerei.com
301-371-7100
301-371-7957 (fax)
301-471-8721 (mobile)
Skype ID: madelynblair

On Jan 28, 2009, at 9:41 AM, Roger Davies wrote:

Hi Alice,

Your last paragraph explains why incentives should not be used. I am
interested in what incentives are present at every moment in every
organization every day. Maybe it's a definition thing. We do exchange
'reward' and 'incentive' very freely and in my humble opinion very
incorrectly.

The main difference is that an incentive is a guaranteed outcome that you
know about before you decide to act e.g. if you complete the project by a
certain date you WILL receive a monetary bonus

A reward is something that you may know is possible but is in no way
guaranteed e.g. If you find a purse full of money and hand it in to he
police rather than keep it you MIGHT be rewarded.

There are many occasions when the definition is not clear e.g. If you
achieve all of your personal targets for the year then you MIGHT be
considered for promotion. On the surface that's a harder one to define.
There is no guarantee of promotion but there is a guarantee that you
definitely won't get considered if you don't meet your targets. In reality
it's an incentive worded as a reward. It sounds like a reward because there
is no guarantee. However, you are now put in a position that to even be
considered for promotion you might consider making a decision that will
violate your values (be morally or ethically incorrect). 

You are correct incentives are everywhere , all the time and it is how we
choose to react to them that counts. However in many for profit
organizations currently driven by data and cascaded KPI's the outcome of
your choice can mean the difference between having a job or not. What is the
outcome for an organization whose members feel that they have to violate
their values in order to remain within the organization? 

Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu
[mailto:ailist-bounces at lists.business.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Alice Leibowitz
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 5:11 PM
To: ailist at lists.business.utah.edu
Subject: [Ailist] incentives

I'm a bit confused by the idea that "incentives should not be used" if
possible. My belief is that incentives are always present in every
organization at every moment of every day. The choice is whether to be
intentional or not.

It's true that there are intrinsic motivations, but as the Nazi project
showed us, almost anyone can violate their values if the incentive is strong
enough.

-- 
Alice Leibowitz
Partner
Insight Unlimited LLC
Non-profit, Community, and Grassroots Consulting
Hartford, CT
alice at insightunlimited.org
www.insightunlimited.org
(860) 956-9299

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_______________________________________________
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:
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