Carrot principle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An anti-war cartoon by Boardman Robinson (1876–1952) from 1916: Death rides an emaciated donkey (Europe) into the abyss by holding a carrot ( victory "victory") in front of his nose.

The Carrot Principle (also carrot principle , Donkey Carrot (carrot) principle , Carrot (carrot) -Esel principle or in free, proverbial formulation donkey a carrot in front of the nose holding ) is a negatively connoted , metaphorical phrase, which is used in management , motivational psychology and the media .

metaphor

The proverbial metaphor describes a donkey having a carrot - visible but inaccessible - held in front of its mouth as an incentive in order to make it carry / pull a load or run in a certain direction. The stereotypical image of the donkey shows it as stubborn, lazy and stupid. The proverb is limited to this pictorial representation and does not indicate whether the donkey moves in response - or not.

This simplistic view cannot be reconciled with the long history of the donkey as a domestic animal or with its biological behavior.

The principle in motivational psychology

The "donkey" stands for a person - or a group of people - who should be motivated from the outside. The “carrot” represents the means of motivation - an incentive, a potential reward.

Expected results

In this situation, several results can be expected:

  • The motivation works and the person performs the tasks asked of them.
    • After completing the tasks, the person receives the promised reward.
      • After a one-time reward, the person carries out additional, not particularly rewarded tasks.
      • The person has been conditioned by the reward and now awaits the announcement of further rewards before performing the next task.
    • After completing the tasks, the person does not receive the promised reward. But it is promised again.
      • Despite the lack of a reward, the person carries out other tasks in the hope of still receiving a reward.
      • The person leads himself to be cheated and refuses to carry out any further tasks.
  • The motivation does not work and the person does not carry out the tasks required of them because the chosen means of motivation was not suitable or is not accepted by the person to be motivated for some other reason.

Strategies and bad strategies

As the expected results show, the carrot principle can also bypass the desired success or even be misused.

  • The motivator selects the reward according to his own criteria, and the reward also fits into his own long-term strategy, which, however, is not the strategy of the person to be motivated. It can happen that the person to be motivated does not perceive the prospect as a reward, but as a disadvantage.
    • Example : A lucrative position abroad is promised, but the person to be motivated does not want to live abroad.
  • The motivator takes advantage of the person to be motivated by keeping him in a wanting situation: the reward is promised, but the delivery of the reward is repeatedly postponed. In extreme cases, the person to be motivated becomes tolerant: he knows that he will never receive the reward and carries out tasks in a minimalist manner.
    • Example : A person with temporary contract is made a permanent contract in view, which is postponed again and again by other arguments and not concluded.
  • The motivation was carried out several times, the reward received several times, but further motivation to increase it becomes more and more difficult or is no longer possible because the person to be motivated is “saturated”.
  • The person to be motivated is the problem in that he self-motivates and chases after every possible reward - attainable or unattainable - and in the process exhausts himself to the point of burnout .

use

The carrot principle is a way of expressing dependence on something in a derogatory way, blindly following a promise, generally pursuing an activity in the hope of getting something for it. Examples are election promises, the marketing of artists towards their fans, situations in the working world, contract negotiations, etc.

Use in other languages

Carrot and stick , ie " carrot and stick "

The metaphor is also used in other languages.

  • The carrot principle corresponds to the English phrase carrot on a stick ("carrot on a stick"). In a variant, the phrase carrot and stick (literally "carrot and stick"), there is a further "reinforcement of motivation" through an additional threat: the donkey dangles the carrot in front of its eyes and behind it the stick with which it is held up Case of punishment is beaten. The German-speaking equivalent is "carrot and stick".
  • This distinction is also made in French . “Holding a carrot out to the donkey” is la carotte devant l'âne . At la carotte ou le bâton , the emphasis is on reward or punishment.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Georg Schwinning: Communication, leadership and cooperation in companies: Real situations and tangible solutions . Haufe Lexware, 2016, ISBN 978-3-648-08052-8 , p. 82.
  2. ^ Walter Buchacher and Josef Wimmer: The leadership seminar: Tools for everyday leadership in words and pictures . Linde Verlag GmbH, 2008, ISBN 978-3-7093-0147-0 , p. 128.
  3. ↑ a b Volker Harm: Regularities of the semantic change in perceptual verbs in German . Franz Steiner Verlag, 2000, ISBN 978-3-515-07775-0 , p. 26.
  4. ↑ Gisela Harras, Ulrike Hass-Zumkehr and Gerhard Strauss: Word meanings and their representation in the dictionary . Walter de Gruyter, 1991, ISBN 978-3-11-012903-8 , p. 147.
  5. ↑ A similar stupidity can be found in the metaphor of Buridan's donkey starving between two equally large piles of straw.
  6. ↑ Mathias Plüss: Smart donkey . Die Zeit online, December 23, 2008, accessed on January 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ Vera F. Birkenbihl: Psycho-logically correct negotiation: Professional negotiation techniques with experiments and exercises . mvg Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86415-253-5 , p. 103.
  8. ↑ a b Tobias Esch: The Neurobiology of Happiness: How Positive Psychology Changes Medicine . Thieme, 2013, ISBN 978-3-13-166122-7 , p. 104.
  9. ↑ Willibald Josef Gruber: Leadership Code: Gradual intensification of an integral awareness in leadership and management . BoD - Books on Demand, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7322-4217-7 , p. 36.
  10. ↑ Ingrid Strobel: Stress management and burnout prevention: individual advice and guidelines for seminars . Haug reference book, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8304-7871-3 , p. 62.
  11. ^ Gudula Walterskirchen : The Austrian Society: Satirical Insights and Outlooks . Amalthea-Signum-Verlag, 2006, ISBN 978-3-85002-577-5 , p. 192.
  12. ↑ Ullrich Fichtner: Donkey and carrot . Spiegel Online, April 21, 2009, accessed January 3, 2017.
  13. ↑ Mark Hübner-Weinhold: Put an end to the donkey and carrot principle! Hamburger Abendblatt, January 24, 2009, accessed on January 3, 2017.
  14. ^ Rainer Kurbos: Building Law in Practice: Basics - Documentation - Awarding - Additional Costs - Defects and Damage (Austria edition) . Linde Verlag GmbH, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7093-0523-2 , p. 133.
  15. ↑ Alexandre Salcède: Dom Juan de Molière - Acte III, scene 2: Commentaire de texte . lePetitLitteraire.fr, 2014, ISBN 978-2-8062-3265-6 , p. 12.
  16. ↑ Les expressions françaises décortiquées: La carotte ou le baton . Retrieved January 2, 2017.