In the throes of annual planning. Send help. Apologies for the delay. On the bright side my brain is swimming with post ideas. "We just need to align incentives!" How many times have you heard this? What do most people mean by incentives? They probably mean money, recognition, promotions, benefits, autonomy, support, purpose, social pressures, feedback, and growth. If we can find the perfect mix of these things, we can solve all our problems.
I have also noticed that people in higher positions think they are incentivizing their reports by being an example on how to behave but lack the self-awareness to realize that their own behavior is incentivizing their reports to develop undesired traits.
For example, managers that say that they want their reports to "own" things but them keep on overriding their decisions because they also want to "own" everything under the sun. They end up showing that "owning" things is a frustrating effort and that is better to wait for a top-down decision.
Decision-makers are often beneficiaries of a certain set of incentives that motivate only a subset of the wider employee base towards new behaviors. This disconnect is at the root of a lot of frustration (on both sides)
I’d love to hear more about how you deal with this “creating conditions where people can shape their environment and benefit from the disposition of their environment”...
I have also noticed that people in higher positions think they are incentivizing their reports by being an example on how to behave but lack the self-awareness to realize that their own behavior is incentivizing their reports to develop undesired traits.
For example, managers that say that they want their reports to "own" things but them keep on overriding their decisions because they also want to "own" everything under the sun. They end up showing that "owning" things is a frustrating effort and that is better to wait for a top-down decision.
Decision-makers are often beneficiaries of a certain set of incentives that motivate only a subset of the wider employee base towards new behaviors. This disconnect is at the root of a lot of frustration (on both sides)
Love the oxbow lake metaphor. That really sings.
I’d love to hear more about how you deal with this “creating conditions where people can shape their environment and benefit from the disposition of their environment”...