The Carrot or The Stick

underground

Active member
Did anyone watch this on Channel 4? I thought it was very interesting, although I wasn't too sure whether in the end it illustrated the successes or failing of either method of motivation.

(for anyone who didn't watch it, it was basically two groups of unmotivated, undisciplined lads, out in the wilds, having to perform various tasks comprising hard work and pain. One group, under the instruction of some military personnel, were severely punished should they fail in their tasks (the stick) whilst the others, under the instruction of some new age type guru, were rewarded should they succeed, the idea being, Which method worked best?).

One thing it did make me think though, was that the reward method could lead to selfishness and lack of team spirit, which was illustrated by one lad Graham, the 'weakest' of the carrot team, becoming very demotivated and upset when one of his fellows decided to blame him for a lack of reward and demotivate him / destroy his already low confidence yet further. It wasn't nice to see that happening at all..... I wanted to give the blonde dreadlocked tw*t a taste of his own medicine.
 

bubba

Administrator
Didn't see it - it sounds dangerously like "reality tv" which these days I'm allergic to.

The carrot is usually going to work better than the stick I'd have thought.
 

underground

Active member
Not really- more like 'SAS: Are you tough enough?' but for idle numpties.

It looked like it at first- the Carrots were more organised and better thinkers, but 'poitive thinking' deserted them at the finale and they got beaten by the army boys...

If you think about it, getting a reward will make life better- not getting it though won't make it any worse, whereas having to spend 24 hours in a team of 4 with a huge log that they literally can't take their hands off (even while on the crapper) would make life a sh*tload worse!

Here's the website: http://www.channel4.co.uk/life/microsites/C/carrot_or_stick/
 

cap n chris

Well-known member
As a TV hater I was surprised to find it enjoyable viewing; the ideal solution to the question "Carrot or Stick?" is surely a New Labour viewpoint "the third way", i.e. a mixture of both.

Take the bits from each camp which worked and mix them together in a suitable balance for use within your own life - perhaps it'll help all round. Mind you I can't imagine meeting a new group of students and barking at them to "Drop and give me twenty" following by a lunchtime "Milling" and then an afternoon of "Murder Ball"; even though when I was at school that's what it felt like most of the time!
 
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