A Little bit of Stick amongst Carrots
Getting rewards feels divine, no matter the reason and it never fails to make us feel blessed. On the other hand, punishment hurts us, makes us feel insignificant and oftentimes, our mind races against the logic in an attempt to reverse the consequences with countless excuses, mostly vague and deformed.
But what we forget, our life is not perfect, not even close to it— while some will say it's amazing and one-of-a-kind, which truly is, still imperfections remain— striking us to strive for more.
They say it's the imperfections of life that make it so enjoyable. Most of us are okay with those sorrowful events, like a speck of dandruff we shake off our shoulders— but we can never ignore the consequences it entails.
Our mind restlessly digs into it every now and then until it finds something else to be busy with. As a powerful flush brings out the stuck food particles and our tongue can rest after all the twisting and hurting the moving front, human instinct keeps poking the consciousness until it gets a reason to replace the subject with a significant one, disrupting our workflow in between. It’s only the carrots our mind yearns for— give it a stick and it gets disappointing.
Well, you can’t complain. It is as it is— but it could be different and it should be. That’s how our life is programmed to be, like it or not— you must embrace the fall only to understand the true worth of rising again. And this will be continued for eternity, so, it’s better we set our minds accordingly.
Now, what do we have here.
Business students may relate to the carrot and stick theory way too easily but for the others, it may cause confusion, leaving us at the mercy of explanation. So, here it is.
It’s all about distributing rewards— you reward someone who is doing good and cuts off from the underperforming one. In the corporate world, it is practised frequently, often not by the terms but the practice exists. The management motivates the good performers with a bit of reward and gives a message to the average and underperformers about the possible punishments. It’s all about business— and probably won’t interfere with us in our daily lives, right?
Not really.
While it is used widely in the business scenario, our usual lifestyle reflects the same principle, more or less. For example, starting with our family, we get an appreciation for our good works from the elders and those causing any discomfort to the family members get scolded. Both of the scenarios can bring positivity in the sense that, it asks us to do nothing but the good, and in a consistent manner.
However, I have a feeling being rewarded all the time makes it dull, and sometimes causes discomfort. I can relate this to my past career where I used to get appreciated too often. And every time they rewarded me with something, I could sense an army of disappointed colleagues. Quite uncomfortable, I must say— but what can you possibly do? Stop pushing yourself for the betterment? Nah, that’s what I did not do, instead, I kept gathering all the carrots I could. Who knows when the carrots will run out of stock and all there’ll be left is a pile of sticks.
Aaron Burden on Unsplash
not a carrot
