Page 214 - The Power to Change Anything

Design Rewards and Demand Accountability 203

stars, but symbolically and socially they provided more incen-
tive than anyone had ever imagined.
Once again, if you’ve done your work with both personal
and social motives, symbolic awards take on enormous value.
If you haven’t, extrinsic rewards can become a source of
ridicule and cynicism. Fortunately, in this case, bank em-
ployees’ deep regard for Dr. Yunus, along with their commit-
ment to serving the poor, made gold stars more valuable than
money. In fact, if Yunus had offered large cash rewards, it might
have undercut the moral and social motivation that already
drove these employees every day.
Hundreds of executives showed this same high-energy
response to a symbolic incentive when a large consulting firm in
the United States decided to offer awards for completing training
assignments. The plan was simple. Senior leaders would meet
weekly in a world-acclaimed training program where they would
be given specific behavioral goals to ensure that they put their
learnings into practice. The leaders would then report back to
their trainer when they had fulfilled their commitment.
Soon leaders were going to great lengths to not only com-
plete their assignments, but, in the event that they were called
out of town, they’d e-mail their trainer to report on their
progress. Senior executives jumped through these administra-
tive hoops because, competitive souls that they were, they all
wanted to earn the top award—an inexpensive brass statuette
of a goose. Once again, it wasn’t the cash value of the reward
that mattered. It was the symbolic message that motivated
behavior. It was the moral and social motivation that gave the
token award supreme value.
Mimi Silbert, as you would guess, is a veritable master
when it comes to making use of small rewards—one heaped
upon another. Delancey residents quickly learn that with
each new accomplishment they receive new privileges.
Residents move from grunt work to increasingly complicated
and interesting jobs. They move from a nine-person dorm, to