Intrinsic _&_ Extrinsic Motivation

["David C. Snook-Luther" <strategyworkshop@earthlink.net>]

I have been away for several weeks and am just reviewing the thread on
psychology.  I have looked through the archive quickly and I apologize if
this question has already been answered and I missed it. First, I will lay
out the premises underlying my question.

Premise 1.  We seem to agree that both intrinsic and extrinsic sources of
motivation can have a powerful influence.

Premise 2.  A theme that seems to weave through the discussion is that
incentive schemes based on increasing extrinsic motivation are more
effective in eliciting narrow, targeted behaviors.  Alternatively schemes
based in enhancing intrinsic motivation are more effective in supporting
the cognitive, decision making processes needed to consider the
interactions present in complex systems.  

We may want to think about the validity of this premise.  If the premise is
valid, it suggests that both kinds of reward systems can (and at least in
some cases probably do) coexist comfortably.  Further, as change agents we
should consider the types of behaviors desired in various organization
processes both organization-wide and in specific situations when developing
compensation, incentive, and other reward schemes.

_My Question:_  "How much is enough?"  Does anyone on the net know of
research or have experiences regarding the relative strength of the effect
of extrinsic versus intrinsic rewards on behavior when the two are not
compatible?    That is, how "strong" must the intrinsic support system be
relative to the extrinsic support system to dominate the effect of
extrinsic rewards?  Must we eradicate one system or double, triple,
quadruple, increase by orders of magnitude the other system relative to the
strength of the first to see a substantial change?

More concretely, let's set up a force field analysis. Assume we want
children to learn for the joy of learning and extending that learning into
knowledge and technology to pursue directions the child-cum-adult chooses..
How much effort must go into processes that support this end when (under
the current system) the opposing force is the use of grades and ratings to
screen people for educational opportunities, jobs, advancement, pay,
etc.even when at best there is only a moderate relationship between the
grades/ratings and the person's "true" learning, knowledge, and performance.  

For the _moment_ I would like to suspend questions of ethics/distributive
justice and questions about individual versus group/community rights and
responsibilities.  At this point, as a change agent I am trying to answer
the question "How much is enough?"  We can address the issue of "enough
what" separately.  To put this is Peter Drucker's terms: my question is
about efficiency--and may or may not lead to effectiveness.  

David C. Snook-Luther, Ph.D
The Strategy Workshop
12525 Quito Rd. Saratoga, CA
strategyworkshop@earthlink.net
Phone/Fax: (408) 871-0232
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