Jackass, or no Jackass? That is the question.

Sigmund Freud is easily one of the most influential thinkers in the modern field of psychology, and is credited for developing the Pain Pleasure Principle. But a psychology degree isn’t required to understand that we all feel drawn toward that which feels good, and we avoid that which feels bad.

Additionally, the Neurologist Ivan Pavlov famously experimented with animals and developed his theory of learning based on positive and negative conditioning commonly known as Pavlov’s Dog. Pavlov demonstrated the ability to predictably control an animal’s behavior based on the animal’s historical experience with known stimuli. Painful and pleasureful stimulus each created their own predictable response. This reward-punishment concept of animal control has led many to believe this to be the most efficient and predictable form of people management, tapping into the primal level of human motivation – pleasure and pain. Applied in business, employees are to follow the rules and receive routine pay, raise, and bonus possibility. Break the rules and lose pay/job. Short-term efficiency maybe, but effective?

The reward-punishment concept, also known as carrot-and-stick, is the great Jackass theory of human motivation - you know, do what you’re told and get the carrot and don’t do what you are told and get the stick. Clearly this business management approach dehumanizes and is just plain wrong and unacceptable. It’s openly exploitative yet all-too-often perceived effective - but has also proven to minimize business shareholder value over the past ~50 years. This leads to two questions: 1/ What has changed in recent decades? 2/ Why in the world does this management approach still persist?

People have been attempting to control people since the beginning of time. Often it’s considered in the best interest of the other party and done out of care, but not always. A toddler shows interest in a busy street and a parent feels compelled to condition their child’s behavior to stay clear of the street – out of care, right? But punishing a prisoner for breaking stated rules isn’t out of care it’s out of forced compliance. Either way, these are environments with established systems, understanding, and expectations of humans controlling humans. The people being controlled expect it, even if they don’t like it. This was also case in the U.S. work environments of the Industrial Age, but not so much today. ?

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Industrial Revolution was arguably the most profoundly rapid and far-reaching period of human progress in all of history. Just read Factfulness by Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Hans Rosling, and Ola Rosling to grasp the mindboggling progress that occurred. And it was so clearly exciting and beneficial that the majority of the human population dropped their shovels and ran to the factories for work and income. These independent workers were absolutely convinced that the industrial machine offered tremendous widespread financial opportunity and they willingly accepted work environments of established systems, understanding, and expectations of control. Essentially, they chose to trade their freedom and agency for a perceived better life as an employee under corporate rule. They gladly walked right into Jackass management.

But that was then and this is now. Worker freedoms have exploded over the past several decades due to economic expansion, employment abundance, workforce fluidity, social expectations, and workers’ right and power to choose. This is a result of monumental improvements in global trade, digital connectivity, interoperability, personal transportation, skills portability, government employment regulation, and more.

THE POWER TO CHOOSE

So if carrot-and-stick is no longer the most effective system of people management, then what is it? Before we get to the answer, let me introduce Carl Jung. He was a Sigmund Freud underling who differed on human motivation. He essentially believed in “intrinsic” motivation rather than simply “extrinsic” carrot-and-stick motivation. Freud believed in the Pain Pleasure Principle, and that external stimulus in these two basic categories motivated people to act in a predictable manner. Jung believed that people carry a deeper more constant existential and transcendent motivation – think of the well-known pyramid representing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a simple representation.

Moreso today, a worker expects to be valued and treated as a whole person (mind, body, heart, spirit) with infinite potential to do great things for team, company, and customers. People want to be trusted to do great things.?It is no longer okay to be treated as an animal or thing. They will leave you lightening fast and do reputational damage on their way out and beyond. Carrot-and-stick doesn’t build people up it diminishes them. It’s Draconian. It’s Machiavellian. It’s a form of manipulation and control whose time has passed.

Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander theorize in their best-selling book The Art of Possibility that the Rosenthal Effect is the most effective way to bring out the best in those we lead. Also known as the Pygmalion Effect, this psychological phenomenon simply suggests that believing in and expecting great things about others leads to their performance improvement. And believing less in others leads to their diminished performance, aka the Gollum Effect. No carrot and no stick. Just igniting the fire within.

?And if The Art of Possibility feels a bit too impractical for the business world, then consider the amazing works by Patrick Lencioni and by Daniel Pink; both of whom are widely considered top business leadership minds. Patrick makes employee engagement so clear, simple, and immediately actionable in The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. And Daniel’s best-selling book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us distills all the proven research, findings, and insights into just three things: 1/ Autonomy, 2/ Mastery, 3/ Purpose. Perhaps this will help you: Zander tells you why and how to do it, Lencioni tells you how and what to do, and Pink tells you what and why to do it. These three brilliant minds complete the picture, so what are we waiting for? Let’s do it.