Beckett recently taught me a lesson about incentives.
We can title it - The unintended consequences of misaligned incentives.
She has a habit of unleashing a Masterclass on or around her birthdays.
Every day she cleans her room, she is promised a dollar. No money changes hands, but if she cleans her room enough number of days, a dollhouse, a lego set, or something that she might like is on the table.
She doesn't usually keep the room clean unless yours truly throws a hissy fit. So she has less than 10 dollars to her name yet.
Last week, she decided to clean her room. I had just thrown one of my hissy fits. The apartment was in an especially abhorrent condition. My hissy fits work sometimes because I threaten to throw away all of her things that are strewn across the house and not in their rightful place.
She cleaned up the room and lamented how much time it took.
As a wise father, always eager to impart some wisdom, I immediately let told her 'If you keep things in their right place, the room won't get dirty in the first place. So you won't have to waste time cleaning it.'
I was beaming with pride, almost patting myself on the back, having taught the 5YO critter a valuable life lesson, when pat came the earnest reply.
'But if I don't have a dirty room to clean, I won't get my dollar for my dollhouse!'
My jaw drop was a sight to behold.
The pesky munchkin had bested me at my own game. Fair & square. Made me a prisoner of my own device.
And she was not being sly or devious. She was genuine.
So we changed the incentive structure. Now onwards, for every day that the room remains clean, she gets a dollar to her name. No need to clean if the room is already spic and span.
The lessons I learned/relearned that day:
1. The big one that Charlie always talks about. Make sure incentives are aligned. Misaligned incentives create unintended consequences; and then it is turtles all the way down.
2. Some times fear (hissy fits) is a greater motivator than greed (dollhouse).
3. The incentive has to be big enough to engender action. A dollar a day is probably not good enough.
5. Maybe the $ should exchange hands. The physical manifestation of the reward is just as, or maybe more important, than knowing that you received the reward.
6. Sometimes it is about removing friction and not about the incentive. Reduced Friction > Material gain.
