Freedom and trust instead of carrots and sticks

Carrot and stick method

The “Carrot and Stick” method is the very first concept of motivation; it arose in ancient times and has existed throughout the history of human development. The main meaning of this method is revealed in its name: for completed work a person receives a reward (in ancient times, food, now a salary), for unfulfilled work - punishment (corporal punishment, reprimand, deprivation of bonus, deprivation of salary). This method is ineffective in modern conditions, since, firstly, it does not imply self-development of the employee, increasing productivity on his own initiative, or advanced training; and secondly, the moral and social development of a person has reached a level where the employee will not tolerate moral, much less material, infringement of his needs, and if such occurs, he will quit. Although this method is not effective and has long been outdated, it was widely used in routine, monotonous, monotonous operations in Soviet times. Currently, the “Carrot and Stick” method can be seen in the following remuneration scheme: it is remuneration based on the principle of a percentage of sales; if you sold a product, you received a certain percentage of the transaction amount; if you didn’t sell, you receive no money. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a system of classification of human needs proposed by Abraham Maslow. In I.p.M. groups of physiological, social needs, needs for safety, respect and self-expression are distinguished.

Rice. 21. Maslow's hierarchy of needs Maslow argued that human behavior depends on which of the five basic types of needs is currently dominant. Let's look at all five levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 1. Physiological needs. They consist of basic, primary human needs, sometimes even unconscious. Sometimes, in the works of modern researchers, they are called biological needs. In relation to the work environment, these are the needs for wages, leave, pensions, breaks, favorable working conditions, lighting, heating and ventilation. 2. Need for security . Once physiological needs are satisfied, the need for safety comes to the fore. These needs reflect the desire to maintain rewards and position already obtained and to protect oneself from danger, harm, threats, injury, loss or deprivation. In organizations, these needs take the form of employee struggles for job security, seniority systems, unionization, safe working conditions, fringe benefits, insurance, and severance pay. 3. Social needs. Once physiological and safety needs have been satisfied, the person's attention shifts to the need for friendship, love, and belonging. As “social animals,” people have a desire to be liked by others and want to satisfy their social needs at work. This occurs by joining formal and informal work groups, by collaborating with other workers, and by participating in a variety of collaborative activities. 4. Esteem needs. These needs can take two different forms. The first is the need for self-esteem, i.e. self-satisfaction. Self-esteem is closely related to feelings of accomplishment, competence, knowledge, maturity, and dependency. The second form is the need for respect from other people. This need is associated with reputation, social recognition, and status within the group. In any organization, rewards that can satisfy the need for esteem include honorary titles, other forms of recognition, praise, additional responsibilities, and promotions. 5. Needs for self-realization and self-expression. When the needs of the four lower levels are satisfied, a person focuses his attention on satisfying the need for self-realization. In trying to achieve this, people try to realize their full potential, increase their abilities and be the “best”. This need for self-expression is the highest of all human needs. Herzberg's theory Herzberg continued the work of Maslow and created a specific substantive theory of work motivation. He conducted a widely publicized study of motivation involving accountants and engineers from companies in and around Pittsburgh. To obtain data, he used the critical situation method. At the same time, negative feelings were associated mainly with the external conditions in which the work was carried out - its context. Having arranged these expressed positive and negative feelings in the form of a table (see Table 1), Herzberg concluded that satisfaction is related to the content of the work, and dissatisfaction is related to its context.

Table 1. Herzberg's two-factor theory

Herzberg called factors that cause satisfaction motivators and dissatisfaction factors hygiene factors. The term "hygiene" (as in healthcare) refers to factors that are preventive in nature; in Herzberg's theory, hygienic factors include factors that prevent dissatisfaction. Together, motivators and hygiene factors formed the basis of Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation.

Table 2. Comparison of the theories of Maslow and Herzberg

Article:

Sooner or later, almost all parents have to explain to their children what is good and what is bad.
Very often, the carrot and stick method is used, based on punishment and reward for appropriate actions. How effective is this, and what should be the ratio of “carrots” and “sticks” when raising children? The carrot and stick method: how effective is it in raising children? The system of punishment and rewards as one of the foundations of human civilization. The system of punishment and rewards is one of the foundations of human civilization. Throughout our lives, we are all rewarded for good work and good deeds, and punished if we do something bad. Only if in childhood we are rewarded with praise, sweets and a trip to the circus, and punished by temporary deprivation of our favorite toys or slaps on the head, then in adulthood, this is done using cash bonuses, various material and intangible values, the police, the judicial system and correctional labor institutions. They begin to accustom us to the laws of reward and punishment that operate in human society from a very early age, explaining in general terms and in detail what is good and what is bad. Then, when we grow up and become parents, we pass this knowledge on to our children. But is the “carrot and stick” method really relevant in the modern world?

This is more like training than education. The carrot and stick method can hardly be called an ideal means of raising children. Rather, it seems like some kind of training, as a result of which they learn to do something positive and not do something negative in order to receive a “bonus” or avoid punishment, and not as a result of a conscious choice. Is it possible to raise a harmonious, independent personality under pain of punishment, even if it alternates with “sugar cakes”? Is it possible to force a person to be good, or should he understand everything himself and make his own choice?

If you use only the “whip” Unfortunately, this still happens in the modern world. Some parents believe that it is possible to raise children correctly only with the help of a “whip” (or rather, a belt), intimidation and physical punishment. Naturally, turning a family into a forced labor colony does not end well. A child brought up under the yoke of fear and physical pain will most likely grow up embittered, both at his parents and at the whole world, downtrodden, aggressive, withdrawn and cruel. This will be a potential criminal from among the “disliked” children.

It is unlikely that he will have the ability to think freely and independently, and be particularly creative, although, of course, exceptions are possible. In any case, there is no need to talk about any trust and friendship with parents when using this method. The child will accumulate anger at his parents and, when he grows up a little, he may take revenge on them.

When you still need a little “stick” Small doses of “stick” should be used only in extreme cases. In all other cases, it is enough to limit yourself to explanatory conversations. If a child really does something bad (for example, offends a girl in class, etc.), then you can think about introducing certain sanctions against him. This does not necessarily have to be threats and “whip”. A much more effective method of punishment for modern children than intimidation and slaps on the head can be deprivation of a computer and the Internet for a week, a month, etc.

Let this be just a light “seasoning” for the “carrots”. In any case, think a hundred times before you take up a belt, a “whip” and other instruments of violence against children. Has your child really done something wrong? And are you yourself an exemplary person to punish someone? Or do you simply beat your child out of inertia, because you yourself were beaten as a child? Think about whether it is possible to raise a full-fledged personality with the help of fear, threats and physical violence.

The effectiveness of the “whip” method is very questionable, since the child will not do bad things not because he will be aware of their wrongness, but because of the fear of receiving physical or moral punishment. In order for a child to be truly afraid of not doing something, a real totalitarian regime will have to be established in the family, which is unlikely to have a positive effect on the relationship between parents and children. Therefore, if the “whip” is needed in raising children, then in minimal doses. Let it be just a light “seasoning” for the “gingerbread”.

Punishment for mistakes is the biggest mistake. Under no circumstances should you introduce a system of punishment in the process of teaching a child anything. Punishing mistakes is the biggest mistake in raising children. Mistakes are an integral part of the learning process. If you don’t do them, it’s impossible to create something interesting and unusual. It is precisely because first parents and then the school system instill in children a fear of mistakes that the world suffers from a lack of creative people with a well-developed creative imagination.

If you use only “gingerbread” With the help of “gingerbread” and “marshmallows” alone, it is also unlikely that you will be able to raise a full-fledged, harmonious personality, just as with a diet based on sweets alone, it is impossible to give the body all the nutrients necessary for its life. .

With such training, the child learns to do good deeds only if this is followed by a certain reward. It is better to give children gifts for no special reason and on holidays than to accustom them to commodity-money relations with their parents, in which they will be “good” only for the sake of money and various family privileges. Much more important than material encouragement for correct behavior may be support for the child in all his positive endeavors, even if they are very far from the vital interests of the parents.

You can do without this Naturally, the “carrot and stick” method is not suitable for all children. Each child has purely individual characteristics, and some really need punishment and encouragement, while others need educational conversations. Someone will turn out to be so smart that when they reach conscious age they will understand everything without any training.

When a child is old enough to be aware of what he is doing, he should be given the freedom to choose to do good things and avoid bad things of his own free will without any coercion from a system of carrots and sticks.

It is possible to make the process of a child’s understanding of what is good and what is bad effective without “carrots” and “sticks.” To do this, you need to constantly carry out great cultural and educational work with him, using your own example and the best examples of world literature and cinema. Of course, this is much more difficult than giving a child a slap on the head or a cash prize for a good deed. But who said raising children is easy?

Using the example of the best examples of world art, explain to the child, when he reaches a conscious age, that offending the weak is bad, that helping them and protecting them is good, etc. This method will much better contribute to the education of a free, independent, harmonious personality than “sticks”, “carrots” and other tools of the system of punishments and rewards.

Alexander Gerasimenko

In this article I will talk about motivation, or more precisely about the most complex type of motivation - self-motivation.

Carrot and stick is a simplistic, superficial view of motivation. This primitivism does not work in the 21st century, because today the carrot and the stick are always served “in one bottle.”

Let's consider two people - me and my friend. I GO to the gym 3 times a week. A friend of mine has been telling me for years how much he WANTS to go to the gym. What makes us different? Obviously, he and I see different things when we go to the gym, he is the stick and I am the carrot.

Gingerbread for me is good health, attractive appearance, self-discipline, which feeds my self-respect, interesting audio books that I listen to during training, a pleasant shower and a great mood when leaving the gym.

The whiplash for him is a rapid heartbeat, muscle pain, sweat running down his eyes, less than enthusiastic looks from developed athletes, and at the end of all this “hell” there is also a “public” locker room. Continuous blows of the whip, there is no smell of gingerbread here.

What is it in our heads that tells my consciousness that training is a carrot, and his consciousness that training is a stick?

There is an answer to this question. Our consciousness has one very faithful advisor. It is this advisor who guides our mind in making every decision. Our mind especially listens to him in matters of “carrot and stick”. This advisor has self-image. My mind and my friend's mind see the same carrot and stick because we see ourselves differently.

My self-image tells me that you are always in a good mood, you are disciplined and for this you respect yourself, you are well built and everyone around you knows about it and expects to see you that way. As a result, if I'm in a bad mood or fat, I'll struggle to conform to my self-image. The pain of not matching my self-image will be stronger than the pain of going to the gym. The discrepancy with my self-image will be so painful that I won’t even see the carrot in the delicious piece of cake. Self-image distributes “carrots and sticks,” and we only act in accordance with its prompts.

Self-image easily turns any activity into a habit, constantly presenting it as a carrot, and the same self-image can make us disgusted with anything if it makes us see it as a stick.

We often hear talk about self-discipline. But this is a superficial view of the situation. Self-discipline is just an extension of our self-image. The full picture looks like this - carrots and sticks that grow on the tree of self-discipline, which feeds from the roots of self-image. The only way to decide for yourself what will be the stick and what will be the carrot is to water your self-image with the right knowledge, place it surrounded by the right neighbors and practice the right thinking.

Only when you have built the right self-image will you be able to talk about self-motivation and be able to guide yourself through life towards your goals by judiciously assigning “carrots and sticks” to positions yourself.

Direct your efforts in the right direction, take care of your self-image, and you will be able to achieve great heights!

If you are so smart, then why not...

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