On Fri, 15 Dec 1995 pcapper@actrix.gen.nz wrote:
> It is not for me to question what it is that motivates YOU, Bernie, but if
> you extrapolate that into a model of motivation in organisations, then you
> are dead wrong.
>
> The evidence is very powerfully that beyond what is necessary for
> survival, money is NOT an effective form of recognition - even in your
> North American culture (in fact ESPECIALLY there). It has been shown that
> financial rewards will produce immediate changes in behaviour (see Lepper
> and Greene (1978) "The Hidden costs of rewards: New Perspectives on the
> Psychology of Human Motivation") but that this behavioural change does not
> relate to feelings of affirmation, recognition, or internalised
> motivation.
>
.......>
> I see a lot of well paid people who remain deeply dissatisfied with their
> work. I do not encounter many people who regard their work as 'play' who
> are deeply dissatisfied with the money they get. Of course it is true that
> this latter happy band are inclined to be more productive, and so they are
> usually pretty well paid anyway.
I deeply appreciate the careful consideration that you gave to my soulful
plaint. Perhaps I should have emphasized the PLAY word more vividly.
It is precisely because of our systemic lack of recognition for the value
and contribution of play that I am so intrigued by the possibility that
there be extrinsic recognition and support. It is indeed often painfully
confusing to be materially rewarded for what is already spiritually
rewarding. I have often written about the insidious nature of trophies and
prizes, and their profoundly negative impact on play and spontaneity.
But what I am referring to here is my observation that we have built a
system that rewards people for doing what they don't like doing, and that
only gives passing recognition to any connection between enjoyment and
productivity.
My quest here is for a system that recognizes and supports intrinsic
reward. Recognizes it by providing the conditions for playful interaction,
supports it by providing a reasonable salary for the fruits of those
interactions.
Far too few of us are actually getting paid to play. Far too many of us
are getting rewarded for joyless, self- and other-destructive "work."
Are there systems of reward that are effective in recognizing and
supporting the productive power of play? Systems that reach beyond the
fortunate few to create a generalized state of affirmation of happiness?
-- Bernie DeKoven dekoven@aol.com http://www.california.com/~meetings