Carrots, Sticks and Innovation
Since innovation is such a crucial part of what we do as New Tech marketers, the approach taken by businesses to foster that innovation is absolutely vital. I guess we all know intuitively that we’re the most creative and tackle problems with no obvious solutions well in an environment that does not rely on pressure and rewards – the proverbial carrot on a stick (or even the stick itself!). Psychologists have long agreed that there are two basic approaches to motivation – Intrinsic and Extrinsic. The former, inimitable variety comes from within and the latter is tied to rewards, etc.
In yet another TED video shared on HoteleMarketer.com, Dan Pink touches on these very issues and explains how the findings of science and how business is run today are completely at odds to each other. We just cannot expect innovation and radical problem solving to emerge from people focused on incentives. Absolutely agree with Dan on this talk…and a great watch for anyone looking to hire a marketer to explore new tech and emerging media spaces. Also check out this earlier article from Dec 2008, which touches on a couple of these aspects “When the going gets tough, Hotel eMarketers play harder”
Enjoy the talk!
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