Must be Alfie Kohn's unlucky day. Ann Bares at Compensation Force has a well-written post about the pros/cons of rewards and incentives as well. Ann does a great job highlighting the fact that a balanced approach to motivation and influence is required in order to reap the benefits of this strategy.
As with most things - there are no hard and fast rules for driving behavior - or business - for that matter.
As we saw with the dot com bust - online isn't the only thing - nor is off-line - but balancing the two give you greater reach and capability. No different with rewards - balance will give you the results you want.
Tying back to the theme from yesterday's post - this is why you can't boil rewards and influence down to 200 words. You need to understand the nuances in order to arrive at the optimal mix and be successful.
A
Marketing and Incentive Design Consultancy