By Jeff Gau, Marco CEO – Do you lead with a carrot or a stick? They both modify behavior. We often talk about it here at Marco, and I’d like to think that we use far more carrots than sticks. What’s the difference?
| CARROTS | STICKS |
| If you do X, you get Y | If you do X, you won’t get Y |
| Focuses on what’s working | Focuses on what’s broken |
| Looks at what’s possible | Looks at what happened |
| Provides incentive | Issues consequence |
| Encourages behaviors | Forces behavior |
We also can take a hybrid approach that I like to call “hitting people over the head with a stick.”