Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Readings Sept 9



                It is interesting how much psychology and neuroscience affect the idea of leadership, an area often thought more of as an art than a science. It also seems almost counter-intuitive that carrot-and-stick incentives do not work in the workplace, at least not by themselves. Both “Drive,” by Dan Pink, and “Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership,” by Dan Goleman, reach this conclusion, though from different angles. Goleman approaches  the issue from a social standpoint, with neurological data supporting his arguments. He stresses the importance of a leader’s “social intelligence,” how they interact with those they lead and the effect their leadership has. The leader’s actions have a direct influence on not only how subordinates perceive them, but on how effective they are at working and on their self-worth within the organization. David Rock, in his article “Managing with the Brain in Mind,” expounds on this viewpoint and even breaks down successful management strategies into the acronym SCARF: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness. If a leader promotes, protects, and propagates these ideals among subordinates, the organization works more effectively and individual members feel far more valued and fulfilled.
                Most striking, though, are Pink’s conclusions in “Drive.” He cites a series of studies regarding carrot-and-stick incentives; the higher quality/quantity work, the higher the monetary reward. While one might think that a high reward yielded higher quality/quantity, instead high rewards led to substandard work, where there was little difference between work produced given moderate and meager rewards. He further points out that, looking to websites like Wikipedia, people are often willing to pour hours of time into their work for free if they feel as though they have purpose. So it is not the monetary reward that drives people, but that sense of purpose and accomplishment.

No comments:

Post a Comment