Page 41 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

12 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

I would ask you to consider when is the last time that you
were really motivated to change a behavior? Perhaps you
wanted to get into great shape for a special occasion, such as
getting married or going to a twenty-fifth high school reunion—
both of which I did while writing this book. Maybe you had a
physical and your doctor told you that you needed to stop smok-
ing and lose weight. Notice first that it usually takes something
really big in our lives to get us motivated to change our behav-
ior. Second, it requires making a conscious choice to change our
behavior and the habits that run our lives. Third, notice how
even powerful events and conscious choices rarely lead to sus-
tained changes in behavior. Habits are persistent and resistant
to change, and they don’t go away just because we feel suddenly
motivated.
Being motivated rarely changes anyone’s behavior over the
long term. How many people do you know who have said they
really want to stop drinking or smoking, start exercising, study
a foreign language, learn to play an instrument, go back to
school, get out of a bad relationship, or find a better job and have
actually done so? By the way, when you hear someone saying
that they are “trying” to do these things, it is always a sign that
they have already decided to fail. I am suggesting that almost no
source of motivation, even the promise of having someone say,
“Wow, I can’t believe how great you look after twenty-five years!”
will provide enough incentive to keep you motivated for more
than a few weeks. If it were, there would be a lot more people at
reunions. Motivation may get you started down a path, but car-
rots alone are simply insufficient to develop sustainable changes
in behavior.

Changing Expectations in a Changing World
In addition to looking for fulfillment in one’s work, today’s
employees expect and seek balance in their lives. In fact, they