Carrot or stick?

Moving the goal posts is one of the single most frustrating bits of feedback I hear from people, about their managers. Right now at Amazon, there are Instagram accounts dedicated solely to the issue of changing the dates, and requirements, for getting a promotion. If you promise a change to someone, deliver it- even if circumstances change. If you lose the trust of the team, you’ll never get it back- and you’ll have no strings to pull on when you need.

There have been times in the last few years where I’ve had a better reaction to a brownie box in the post than a £1,000 bonus. Small, timely acts of recognition of great effort are better than something that is easily forgotten or absorbed in the day-to-day.

This one may end up being my epitaph (next to “Feedback is a gift”). Let me explain: 

I have £200 in a bonus pot for someone that overdelivers in December. \ I tell the team I have £100 for whomever overdelivers the most in December. \ Person A wins.\ I give them £200.

I’ve spent exactly what I planned, but Person A is OVERJOYED because I have delivered on their expectations twice over. Person A tells the team they got even more than they were expecting.

Who doesn’t win, here?

My eldest son has started doing junior Parkrun on a Sunday. On week one, I was so worried he wouldn’t be motivated enough to get around that I promised him not one, but **two** full chocolate bars if he did it all. 

Obviously, he did it and with worrying ease, and this left me in a sticky situation. Do I spend £1.80 a week giving him a ridiculous amount of sugar and processed fat? Or do I pivot? I chose to change the reward, but was at great pains to explicitly and clearly outlining why, and what the new reward would be.

Unfortunately, he’s not quite gotten back to the PB of week one, where he had the promise of a chocolate overdose powering him around- but I also don’t feel bad about over-incentivising. It was fine to change my mind, but I needed to be clear why and when that was happening.

(He’s five, but I think the lesson applies. Ultimately- aren’t we all toddlers?)

It can feel so cringe to shout out someone in a group channel, or at the end of a meeting, but honestly unless a team member has been explicit about not wanting public praise (reward and recognition can come in the micro, too) just say something. Pick up on the little things and you’ll notice people are less afraid to big up each other too.