Comments on: Reward Success, Reward Failure, Punish Inaction http://www.xerxesb.com/2008/reward-success-reward-failure-punish-inaction/ 'Cause there are some things you just *can't* get from a book... Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:27:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Zubs http://www.xerxesb.com/2008/reward-success-reward-failure-punish-inaction/comment-page-1/#comment-5123 Zubs Sat, 02 May 2009 04:09:33 +0000 http://www.xerxesb.no-ip.org/?p=81#comment-5123 That proverb is still up on the wall :) But - whilst I always thought it was "nice" and a good way of working with things - lately i've become more cynical and am not so sure it really works. Rewarding failure is fine - it is the only way people grow. You can't punish someone every time they fail - because ultimately they will stop trying and you will have forced them into "inaction" out of fear of reprimand. BUT - you also cannot say that if you work your butt off but fail, that's OK, just try again. You can say this up to a certain point and then you have to start thinking about practicalities. So from an academic point of view - the quote is valid. But from a practical - ie money - point of view, I think you have to draw the line where failure, at some point, becomes a problem. Thoughts? That proverb is still up on the wall :)
But – whilst I always thought it was “nice” and a good way of working with things – lately i’ve become more cynical and am not so sure it really works.
Rewarding failure is fine – it is the only way people grow. You can’t punish someone every time they fail – because ultimately they will stop trying and you will have forced them into “inaction” out of fear of reprimand.

BUT – you also cannot say that if you work your butt off but fail, that’s OK, just try again. You can say this up to a certain point and then you have to start thinking about practicalities.

So from an academic point of view – the quote is valid. But from a practical – ie money – point of view, I think you have to draw the line where failure, at some point, becomes a problem.

Thoughts?

]]> By: Xerxes http://www.xerxesb.com/2008/reward-success-reward-failure-punish-inaction/comment-page-1/#comment-960 Xerxes Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:27:01 +0000 http://www.xerxesb.no-ip.org/?p=81#comment-960 I really like that article. there are several seagull managers with whom i work(/ed) with who could benefit from reading this. I really like that article.

there are several seagull managers with whom i work(/ed) with who could benefit from reading this.

]]> By: David James http://www.xerxesb.com/2008/reward-success-reward-failure-punish-inaction/comment-page-1/#comment-959 David James Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:47:53 +0000 http://www.xerxesb.no-ip.org/?p=81#comment-959 This reminds me of Margaret Heffernan's "Ten Habits of Incompetent Managers", http://libtechplayground.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/ten-habits-of-incompetent-managers/ -- number one is "bias against action". I found it interesting to think about past managers I've worked with, good and bad, and see how they stack up on those ten points. And of course to think about how my own performance compares to those habits. This reminds me of Margaret Heffernan’s “Ten Habits of Incompetent Managers”, http://libtechplayground.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/ten-habits-of-incompetent-managers/ — number one is “bias against action”. I found it interesting to think about past managers I’ve worked with, good and bad, and see how they stack up on those ten points. And of course to think about how my own performance compares to those habits.

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