Comments on: The strange power of prizes http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/ This blog is about the impact of business on society. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:08:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: How Open Innovation Can Solve Environmental Problems Large & Small - ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION – ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-980721 How Open Innovation Can Solve Environmental Problems Large & Small - ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION – ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:44:28 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-980721 [...] have been used an inducement to solve systematic problems for centuries [See my 2009 blog post, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do we have a new product or wrapping [...] [...] have been used an inducement to solve systematic problems for centuries [See my 2009 blog post, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do we have a new product or wrapping [...]

]]> By: Wendy Schmidt does damage control http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-938119 Wendy Schmidt does damage control Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:56:02 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-938119 [...] one seem to be able to spur change that market forces by themselves cannot. [See my 2009 blogpost, The strange power of prizes] Evidently, the creation of a prize—not just the money, but the visibility it brings and [...] [...] one seem to be able to spur change that market forces by themselves cannot. [See my 2009 blogpost, The strange power of prizes] Evidently, the creation of a prize—not just the money, but the visibility it brings and [...]

]]> By: How Open Innovation Can Solve Environmental Problems Large & Small | | ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTIONENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-920422 How Open Innovation Can Solve Environmental Problems Large & Small | | ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTIONENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:59:07 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-920422 [...] have been used an inducement to solve systematic problems for centuries [See my 2009 blog post, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do we have a new product or wrapping [...] [...] have been used an inducement to solve systematic problems for centuries [See my 2009 blog post, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do we have a new product or wrapping [...]

]]> By: How Open Innovation Can Solve Environmental Problems Large & Small | Green God http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-920388 How Open Innovation Can Solve Environmental Problems Large & Small | Green God Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:35:51 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-920388 [...] have been used an incentive to solve scientific problems for centuries [See my 2009 blog post, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do you have a new product or packaging [...] [...] have been used an incentive to solve scientific problems for centuries [See my 2009 blog post, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do you have a new product or packaging [...]

]]> By: Crowdsourcing green: an innovative way to solve environmental problems http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-918151 Crowdsourcing green: an innovative way to solve environmental problems Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:11:08 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-918151 [...] have been used an incentive to solve scientific problems for centuries [See my 2009 blogpost, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do you have a new product or packaging [...] [...] have been used an incentive to solve scientific problems for centuries [See my 2009 blogpost, The Strange Power of Prizes]. More recently, companies including Kraft Foods (“Do you have a new product or packaging [...]

]]> By: Money Talks: Cash Prizes Spur Innovation | Bright Puma http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-497100 Money Talks: Cash Prizes Spur Innovation | Bright Puma Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:46:38 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-497100 [...] Marc Gunther: The Strange Power of Prizes (marcgunther.com) [...] [...] Marc Gunther: The Strange Power of Prizes (marcgunther.com) [...]

]]> By: Lawrence Baker http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-283957 Lawrence Baker Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:19:33 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-283957 Fact: American green energy innovation and ingenuity, science really, hasn’t been funded since 2001. www.eere.energy.gov/inventions New renewable energy inventors have no stimulus grant money to develop their inventions. The Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and in particular, Dr. Chu, has snuffed any new green energy advancements. Their agenda is to do research and development of product line for the multinational corporations and keep American innovation down. Old patented green energy inventions were bought up by the multinational corporations and kept off of the market so that they would not upset their New World Order agenda. The last World conquer was Hitler. Yes, it’s a win- win for Communist China and the multinational corporations and a loss- loss for Democracy and Freedom and the American people. Remember, the American manufacturing base moved to China for cheap labor; (graduate engineer $7,000 a year and most everyone else $700 a year) their allegiance is now with Communist China. Bush played the bad cop, Obama plays the good cop, but the fact is we are still on the same agenda. There is no change, the free press is gone. The treason of the multinational corporations and their owned and controlled congress continues. There will be no rebuilding of America’s manufacturing capabilities from the ground up with new inventions. There will only be more debt for the American people and dominance of our government by the multinational corporations New World Order agenda. Ask your government representatives WHY there is no funding for new inventions (advancement in science) to build a new American economy. Fact: American green energy innovation and ingenuity, science really, hasn’t been funded since 2001.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/inventions
New renewable energy inventors have no stimulus grant money to develop their inventions. The Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and in particular, Dr. Chu, has snuffed any new green energy advancements. Their agenda is to do research and development of product line for the multinational corporations and keep American innovation down.
Old patented green energy inventions were bought up by the multinational corporations and kept off of the market so that they would not upset their New World Order agenda. The last World conquer was Hitler.
Yes, it’s a win- win for Communist China and the multinational corporations and a loss- loss for Democracy and Freedom and the American people. Remember, the American manufacturing base moved to China for cheap labor; (graduate engineer $7,000 a year and most everyone else $700 a year) their allegiance is now with Communist China.
Bush played the bad cop, Obama plays the good cop, but the fact is we are still on the same agenda. There is no change, the free press is gone. The treason of the multinational corporations and their owned and controlled congress continues. There will be no rebuilding of America’s manufacturing capabilities from the ground up with new inventions. There will only be more debt for the American people and dominance of our government by the multinational corporations New World Order agenda.
Ask your government representatives WHY there is no funding for new inventions (advancement in science) to build a new American economy.

]]> By: Kyle Cahill http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-283937 Kyle Cahill Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:26:37 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-283937 Marc, Prizes and rewards may be “fun” but they’re also the surest way to discourage the sustainable behavior change that is needed as individuals and within companies. I’d say the best way to isolate and handcuff sustainable innovation is to treat it as a contest or competition and to basically bribe people and companies to change. To your points: Tapping into emotions: emotions are by nature internal, prizes/rewards are external. Many studies have shown that external motivators actually end up reducing intrinsic motivation, meaning people become less interested in what they're doing when they begin to focus on the reward and not their actions, jobs, decisions, etc. Collaboration: prizes and rewards may create a one-time collaboration but more often then not, they create an atmosphere of competition that discourages teamwork, partnering and sharing. Why would fellow employees work together when they are governed by a system of incentives that rewards individual performance? Deadlines: A prize deadline may make project planning or budgeting cleaner, but it will also discourage continuous improvement, risk-taking, creativity and long-term thinking, all key elements of innovation. What happens when the competition is over and there are no more prizes to give out? Is there still an incentive to innovate? Likely not as the motivation equation has been irreparably harmed. The strange “power” of incentives is their ability to isolate, promote self-interest and create false motivation. Not terribly useful, unless we’re all happy with a world with engineers from ATT and Yahoo spending their time trying to predict how much I’ll watch a movie of course. Kyle Marc,

Prizes and rewards may be “fun” but they’re also the surest way to discourage the sustainable behavior change that is needed as individuals and within companies. I’d say the best way to isolate and handcuff sustainable innovation is to treat it as a contest or competition and to basically bribe people and companies to change. To your points:

Tapping into emotions: emotions are by nature internal, prizes/rewards are external. Many studies have shown that external motivators actually end up reducing intrinsic motivation, meaning people become less interested in what they’re doing when they begin to focus on the reward and not their actions, jobs, decisions, etc.

Collaboration: prizes and rewards may create a one-time collaboration but more often then not, they create an atmosphere of competition that discourages teamwork, partnering and sharing. Why would fellow employees work together when they are governed by a system of incentives that rewards individual performance?

Deadlines: A prize deadline may make project planning or budgeting cleaner, but it will also discourage continuous improvement, risk-taking, creativity and long-term thinking, all key elements of innovation. What happens when the competition is over and there are no more prizes to give out? Is there still an incentive to innovate? Likely not as the motivation equation has been irreparably harmed.

The strange “power” of incentives is their ability to isolate, promote self-interest and create false motivation. Not terribly useful, unless we’re all happy with a world with engineers from ATT and Yahoo spending their time trying to predict how much I’ll watch a movie of course.

Kyle

]]> By: Gwen Ruta http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-283933 Gwen Ruta Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:38:09 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-283933 Prizes ARE fun, -- I still buy Cracker Jacks every time I go to a Red Sox game so I can look for the prize. And the proliferation and compelling nature of prizes underscores your point that, despite what we learned in Econ 101, we don't alway act as rational economic beings. It certainly true for me. For example, I know I'm paying too much for internet service at home, but it's just a drag to make a change. And in my work at EDF, I see the same thing happening all the time in our dealings with corporate partners. There are so many environmental innovations that carry economic benefits, but they often don't get acted on. Could be that companies don't know about them, could be that it's not in anybody's job description, but it also could be that there's an element of FUN missing. So if it takes a prize to get us to do better, I'm all for it! Prizes ARE fun, — I still buy Cracker Jacks every time I go to a Red Sox game so I can look for the prize. And the proliferation and compelling nature of prizes underscores your point that, despite what we learned in Econ 101, we don’t alway act as rational economic beings.

It certainly true for me. For example, I know I’m paying too much for internet service at home, but it’s just a drag to make a change. And in my work at EDF, I see the same thing happening all the time in our dealings with corporate partners. There are so many environmental innovations that carry economic benefits, but they often don’t get acted on. Could be that companies don’t know about them, could be that it’s not in anybody’s job description, but it also could be that there’s an element of FUN missing. So if it takes a prize to get us to do better, I’m all for it!

]]> By: Dan http://www.marcgunther.com/2009/12/02/the-strange-power-of-prizes/comment-page-1/#comment-283932 Dan Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:20:22 +0000 http://www.marcgunther.com/?p=3095#comment-283932 the netflix prize? admirably simple and self-interested, and not anything i ever would have come up with. y'think there's room for an anti-sweatshop prize? the netflix prize? admirably simple and self-interested, and not anything i ever would have come up with. y’think there’s room for an anti-sweatshop prize?

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