Page 222 - The Power to Change Anything

Design Rewards and Demand Accountability 211

direction, but with punishment you don’t know what you’re
going to get. You might gain compliance, but only over the
short term. Then again the person in question may actually
push back or purposely rebel. And there’s a good chance that
this person is not going to appreciate you for what you’ve done,
thereby putting your relationship at risk.
Actually, punishment can create all sorts of serious and
harmful emotional effects, particularly if it is only loosely ad-
ministered. For instance, Martin Seligman, in his book Learned
Helplessness, reports that if you place a dog on a metal grid and
then shock the animal—randomly electrifying one part of the
grid, then another, then another—eventually the poor animal
cowers in one spot, and doesn’t even bother to move when the
shock is randomly administered. When exposed to random
pain, the unfortunate subject becomes helpless, broken, and
neurotic. So take heed. When it comes to punishment, you
must be very careful.

Before Punishing, Place a Shot across the Bow

One way to make use of punishment without actually having
to administer it is to “place a shot across the bow” ofthose you’re
trying to influence. That is, provide a clear warning to let
them know exactly what negative things will happen to them
should they continue down their current path, but don’t
actually administer discipline yet. Then if they stay clear of
the wrong behavior, they enjoy the benefit of the threat with-
out having to actually suffer its consequences. This method
may sound manipulative, but before you pass too harsh a judg-
ment, consider a novel and effective police tactic that is cur-
rently being used with drug dealers and other perpetual
criminals in North Carolina and other communities. Here’s
how the method used by authorities makes use of warnings as
opposed to merely tracking down offenders and throwing them
in jail.