Monetary Motivation: Too Much of a Good Thing is Bad, Too

Offering a bonus can make employees more dedicated to a project, but there’s such a thing as too much of a good thing.

So says The Build Network’s Adam Vaccaro  (opens in a new tab), referencing the results of a psychological study from Radboud University  (opens in a new tab) in the Netherlands. It found that participants whose brains normally had a high level of dopamine—the chemical that stimulates reward-seeking behavior—proved less skilled at accomplishing a designated analytical task when they were promised a bigger reward than did those who were offered a smaller one.

While Vaccaro says the research exposes a noteworthy characteristic, he points out that the study wasn’t conducted in a work environment.

“[E]ven if it was in a business atmosphere, and even if you knew all your employees had high dopamine levels, the task itself was still the sort of deadline-driven work that required a very specific solution,” he writes. “So the findings might not be applicable to more collaborative, open-ended, left-brain sort of work.”

Still, Vaccaro says, the study makes an intriguing finding on how rewards don’t always equal a greater work performance.

Tweet of the Day

Is creativity really that hard to harness? Writer and speaker Gregg Fraley offers  (opens in a new tab) up eight politically incorrect statements frequently made about innovation:

Can you handle the truth about #innovation  (opens in a new tab)? Provocative #Keynote  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #mpi  (opens in a new tab) #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab) #meetings  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/Uvb5V2YE07  (opens in a new tab)

— greggfraley (@greggfraley) March 6, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

Other good reads today

Keep the creative juices flowing. Inc.com suggests establishing “hot groups”  (opens in a new tab) made up of employees equally enthusiastic about the same bright ideas.

Trying to win folks over on social media? Cvent has some tips  (opens in a new tab) on how to break through the “social media circle of trust.”

Creating a strategic plan for your nonprofit is one thing. Implementing it across various departments is another, Meredith Low writes  (opens in a new tab).

As baby boomers pass the baton to millennials, you need to hold onto their knowledge. XYZ University  (opens in a new tab) shares some ways to do it.

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