FW: Theory of Knowledge

["Dirk van Putten" <dvanputten@linear.com>]

Begin quote< So our project is to research, by talking to a whole range of
people,
the thinking of the organisations. A simple example - they have
incentive schemes to achieve "X" number of man-hours with no lost time
accidents. They do this because they think that they can "motivate"
people. (theory - incentives motivate.) Once they are aware of this
theory then we can facilitate the opening out of their thinking - are
you sure this theory is right - what evidence is there to support it? -
is there evidence that would contradict this theory - etc etc. >End quote

_______________________

NEWS ALERT from The Wall Street Journal

June 1, 2006

Six world powers agreed on a package of incentives to convince Iran to halt
uranium enrichment, including suspending Security Council action against
Tehran.

_______________________

Do incentives motivate? I think they do. I believe that the Stimulus
Response Reinforcement cycle exists. This idea is also related to the thread
on target setting. We mostly agreed that target setting is dangerous because
individuals will meet the target at any cost even at the expense of the
greater good. This theory assumes that the target is part of a motivation
scheme. For a target to affect behavior, it has to motivate the individual
to behave in a certain way.

If incentives do not motivate, why are we worried about target setting?

To me the question is not do incentives motivate, but how do they motivate
and what behavior do the reinforce. I don't engage in quality engineering
because it is a hobby. There is an incentive that motivates me to do this 50
hours a week. Now that I think about it, even hobbies have incentives that
motivate participation.

Regards,

Dirk van Putten
dvanputten@linear.com