The Candle Problem and how it affects you (Part 2)
Chronicles of an Afropreneur
Dear ,
Last week we discussed the Candle Problem and how this problem affects how you will achieve your goals this year.
You can read
We concluded that every facet of career and business is essentially a candle problem. And the answers are never obvious so we must always seek an alternative perspective.
The candle problem goes beyond this, it also teaches lessons that are important to every business owner and team leader.
Do you know that an increase in pay/salary does not necessarily lead to an increase in productivity? Did I just see you roll your eyes? 😂 It's true! This is for those that think that throwing money at a problem solves it.
Remember the last week, where people were supposed to attach a burning candle to a wooden wall in a way that the candle wax doesn't drip onto the table?
It was discovered that if you offered people an incentive (like money) for solving the problem quickly, they got even worse at solving it, and it took longer for them to solve the problem. They tried this experiment in the US and India to see if the standard of living would affect the result.
Incentives do help us work faster when the ‘correct’ answer is obvious. If you just said “hey, stick these tacks in the wall,” people with an incentive will perform brilliantly. But when the problem requires creative thinking, when the answer is not obvious, incentives make things worse. You’ll be trying so hard to get it done that you can’t think creatively.
In the latter case, incentives actually impeded creative thinking.
So what is the conclusion?
For task-oriented, clerical or well-defined work, an increase in monetary reward does have a significant positive impact on productivity
But for open-ended or creative work, you often need to tap into the motivations of the employee.
We will discuss the various types of motivations next week. Have a splendid week ahead.
Keep grinding,
Uwem