It is very evident that Kerr’s 1995 article, On the Folly of Rewarding A, While hoping for B, is completely correct and present in all forms in today’s civilian and military sectors. The PMO 527 discussion boards on this topic were fascinating, and I was actually shocked at how prominent this problem is..... and what was more shocking, is how everyone’s post left a very deflating and defeated feel to them. What is one supposed to do when organizations “reward A, while hoping for B”, how does this dynamic get fixed, or is there even a solution for it?
While conducting further research online into this topic, I came across a table which provided further examples of how “A” is rewarded but the hope was for “B”. It was actually the US Academy of Management who polled a number of senior executives on the prevalence of this folly in business today (http://www.strategicdevelopment.com/articles_details.php?articles_id=8). Those executives reported that it is alive and well. Instances they quoted are shown in the table below.
| Hoping for . . . | While rewarding . . . |
| Teamwork and collaboration | The best team members |
| Innovative thinking and risk taking | Proven methods and not making mistakes |
| Development of people skills | Technical achievements and accomplishments |
| Employee involvement and empowerment | Tight control over operations and resources |
| High achievement | Another year’s effort |
What I find most fascinating about this table is how organizations are hoping for innovative thinking and risk taking, while rewarding proven methods and not making mistakes. I can’t help but laugh, as I have seen that happen time and time again in my military career. It is always stressed by the chain of command that initiative and innovation is desired.... but the safe “sure thing” route is always taken. Money is usually the reason for this, why fix something that isn’t broke, especially if extra costs could initially be present.
For me, frustration is still the word (emotion) that surrounds this topic. I believe people who belong to organizations with such messed up reward systems are left feeling frustrated, which naturally influences motivation. It was William Bainbridge who stated that “leaders make a major error when they sustain reward systems that “pay off” for one behavior even though they hope clearly for something else” (http://schoolmatch.com/articles/SCMFEB94.htm). Bainbridge could not be more correct, I believe supporting such reward systems is a devastating lack of leadership and it can actually be more detrimental to the workplace, then an actual “reward” system that it was originally meant to be.
http://schoolmatch.com/articles/SCMFEB94.htm
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