You know, I’ve read any number of academic journal articles which have compared –statistically of the relationship between incentives, on the one side, and disciplinary actions, on the other side, for the purpose of determining which is more effective in modifying behavior – the carrot or the stick. In academic terms, the incentive or the discipline is considered the independent variable and performance are considered the dependent variable.
It all works quite well in the academic world and a great amount of time and energy have been spent in trying to establish which is better. In fact, some of them add multiple variables for the purpose of determining mediators and moderators, to get all kinds of nuances.
I appreciate the academic community for what it does. At the same time, I also know that there are circumstances in which we really don’t have to go through a lot of effort to come up with the right answer.
Janet and I have walked our dogs for years. Note the photos of our two Samoyeds. Eevee, to the left, is a happy rambunctious dog who weighs in at about eighty pounds. Ava, to the right, has slowed down through the years but is still strong and just slightly lighter.
They love their walks and their traditions. Put a sled behind them and they will pull to their heart’s content, tails wagging the whole time. Great for a sled; not so great for Janet and myself.
One method of handling the pulling has been using a choker collar and a leash able to contain an 80-pound dog. That has worked sometimes when our wrists, elbows, and muscles need a breather, but we hate to use it.
We happened to be on vacation a few weeks ago after installing a video security system called “Blink.” It’s one of those cameras you put around your house to protect the various doors and, anytime somebody approaches your front porch, back porch, garage door, and so forth, it sends you a message and you then get to watch the live video — streaming.
On this trip, Janet got the message on her phone and so we watched the dog whisperer we had hired to walk the dogs while we were gone. She had little treats in her pocket. She walked both 80 dogs simultaneously. And she had no problem at all. She had treats in her left pocket for Eevee and in her right pocket for Ava. She walked them out to the front lawn and down the block. The entire time, they stayed right by her sides; she gave them treats as she walked; they did their business . . . by her side . . . and then came back inside.
Clearly, I didn’t need a formalized experiment to identify what the IV does to the DV. A simple quasi-experiment showed me that a carrot beats a stick any day.