Which incentive is more powerful?

What is the best way to motivate people? It's a simple question with a surprisingly difficult answer.

A professor performed an experiment on two different classes to see if he could come up with evidence.

Dalakas, a professor of marketing at California State University San Marcos, offered optional pop quizzes in both sections of his consumer-behavior class. If students did well on a quiz, they earned a point; if they did poorly, though, they lost a point. If they gained five points over the course of the semester, they could earn the right to opt out of the final exam.

The trick, however, was this, Dalakas writes for the Conversation:

In the first class, the students were told that the final exam was required but they could earn the right to not take it with five points from the quizzes. In the second class however, they were told that the final exam was optional. But, they could lose that right if they did not get five points from the quizzes.

So the difference was in the framing: The right to opt out of the final was either something to gain or something to lose.

Both classes had about the same number of students, learned the same material, earned about the same grades, and, of course, learned from the same teacher. But the outcomes were remarkably different. In the first class — where students were given the opportunity to work toward the right to opt out of the test — 43 percent of the students scored the five necessary points. But the second class — again, where the right to opt out of the final exam was presented as theirs to lose — had a much stronger showing at the end of the term, with 82 percent of students eligible to claim their right to skip the final exam.

Dalakas credits "loss aversion" as a more powerful tool than traditional bonus incentives.

Dalakas explains his findings with the behavioral-economics phenomenon called loss aversion, or the idea that our annoyance over losing something is stronger than our joy over gaining something. Dalakas uses the example of a $20 bill: You’d probably be peeved if you discovered you’d somehow lost 20 bucks. If you’d found a $20 bill lying around, on the other hand, you’d be happy — but the strength of that emotion would be milder than if you’d lost it.

What would you have done?

Here is the link to the full article:  http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/03/this-professor-turned-his-classes-into-an-experiment-in-motivation.html 

It's not you, it's me

Original post:  Nov 11, 2014

Have you ever wondered why no one seems to know how special you are? Or that you have amazing, wonderful talents? If so, have you considered why this might be?

So many times, we're guilty of overlooking what is right in front of us. In this distracted world filled with all manner of spectacles fighting for our attention, we may sometimes miss the very things we are actually looking for.

We may often find ourselves wishing for someone to give us an opportunity to showcase our skills. If we could get that one big break, we might finally achieve that breakthrough we've been waiting for. Unfortunately for us, life isn't often like that. In order for us to shine, we're going to have to set up our own stage. It may be frightening. It may be outside of our comfort zone. It will certainly be difficult. Regardless of the challenge, it may be the only way for others to recognize the incredible gifts that you have to share.

We've been working to plan an extended leadership team meeting for Information Services. There is an incredible amount of talent within our organization. Part of our challenge is that we are so busy fighting the crisis of the day that we don't get a chance to witness the amazing work happening within our own department! One of the main goals of the event is to give due credit to the teams that have labored so diligently and performed so much over the past year.

It isn't every day that a new star is born. Perhaps it will happen before we know it!