Dan Pink has done it again. In a concise TED Talk, he explodes the myth that extrinsic rewards work as incentives to make people more productive in the work place.
He begins with an experiment called “The Candle Problem.” Subjects are given a candle, matches, and a box filled with tacks all sitting on a table. Their job is simple: find a way to attach the candle to the wall so that the wax will not drip on the table. They try everything. Finally, when they are able to see everything in a different light, they figure out to use the tacks to attach the box to the wall and set the candle in the box. The purpose of the box is often hidden because it appears its only purpose is to hold the tacks.
In the study on motivation, one group is asked to solve The Candle Problem and are told they are the control group. Their results will be used to establish a benchmark of how long it should take the average person to complete the task. Another group is given extrinsic motivators. If they finish in the top 25 percent of all subjects they will receive a certain amount of money. If they are the top performer they receive four times as much money.
So who had the fastest time? The control group. Why? Extrinsic motivation forces people to see things in a very narrow tunnel as they strive to “get the job done.”
At the end of his talk, Pink gives us intrinsic motivators that are working in business. These include things like Google’s “20 Percent Time”. Engineers are given 20 percent of their time to work on whatever they want to work on. No rules. No timelines. Just fun for them. About half of Google’s most successful programs have been birthed in this time.
There is a lot of talk in education circles about “merit pay.” If we do a good job, we’ll get a raise or a bonus. But these motivators simply don’t work for tasks like educating our youth. They focus our attention too much on test scores (as if we aren’t already), and not enough on finding creative ways to truly educate.
Studies have shown various ways people are motivated to do better work. Nearly all of them involve giving the employee some sort of autonomy in choosing how their time is spent. Yet, as teachers, we have one of the strictest schedules on the planet.
So, how do we reform education to the place that teachers can truly find the inner motivation to go above and beyond the norm, step outside the box, see things from a new perspective, and better educate children?
I guess that’s the heart of the question on school reform isn’t it?
