Mixed Signals. How Incentives Really Work
Els incentius envien senyals potents que pretenen influir en el comportament. Però sovint hi ha un conflicte entre el que diem i el que fem com a resposta a aquests incentius. El resultat: senyals equívocs.
He enllestit aquest llibre que té un to discursiu planer però que el fons és profund i consistent. Els missatges clau que he seleccionat són aquests:
- Signals are a credible way to inform others about values, abilities, and preferences.
- Signals change how people feel about themselves (self-signaling) and how others perceive them (social signaling). To enhance signaling, consider both signal size and type.
- If you incentivize quantity, make sure that quality is not compromised
- If you want innovation and risk-taking, don’t send a mixed signal by punishing failures—reward them!
- If you want to motivate long-term success, don’t incentivize (only) short-term success
- Make sure the balance between team and individual incentives is in line with your goals.
- Bad incentives could be worse than no incentives. Make sure to align your signals.
- Audience, scarcity, status of the award givers, and selection process affect the award’s signaling value and can promote identification with the organization.
- Present bias and dynamic inconsistency make behavior change difficult. When possible, make your rewards immediate to increase their effectiveness.
- Incentives can help remove barriers to behavior change. Using incentives to reduce switching costs makes activity take-up easier.
- Incentives can change the culture by changing the payoffs.
- Price signals quality. Make sure to make the right impression.
- Consider the signaling value of your first offer in negotiation. It can help you anchor the negotiation, create a contrast effect, increase the perceived value, and invite reciprocity.
The point is that very often, some level of expertise is needed when you’re trying to solve a problem. The same is true for when you’re designing incentives: when you face a problem that involves trying to get humans to change their behavior, you shouldn’t consult only yourself. Doing some research and learning from experienced people can help. Designing incentives requires knowledge that needs to be acquired. It’s not quite as difficult as, say, understanding string theory, but some knowledge and experience can help.
Llibre que ajuda a reflexionar sobre si els incentius que dissenyem per al nostre entorn són els acurats i què caldria fer per canviar-los. Per alguns semblarà elemental, però recordar allò que és bàsic és fonamental sovint. Recomanable.
