And they did a great job. I should've taken a picture of it, but it showed a lot of creativity and fun. A giant grim reaper stood menacingly next to our office door, a zombie badged as our HR Director sat in a chair opposite, while plenty of signs, dripping with fake blood, were attached to the door, advertising available positions and proudly proclaiming our "death" benefits and the number of days since our last fatal accident (zero, in case you're wondering).
They had fun putting it together and we all had fun answering the door whenever the guy from UPS or Aramark Refreshment Services came calling.
Shortly after the decorations were in place, the building announced what the prizes would be for first, second, and third place, and, universally among our staff, it was decided that the prize for second place -- free bagels for the office -- was the most desirable. It was better than the third place prize, of course, but, strangely, it was also better than the first place prize -- at least in the eyes of my staff.
What happened next was predictable. Everyone started rooting for second place. They started checking out the competition, not hoping that none were better, but hoping, strangely, that one and only one was better. After putting out all that energy and creativity, people began hedging their expectations. Our office door looked great, but perhaps, and hopefully, it wasn't that good. Surely that one down the hall is better than ours. Don't you think?
From my point of view, these hedged expectations told an interesting story. My team came together with a shared purpose, they brainstormed and executed a coherent and creative plan, and knocked-it out of the park with the finished product. They had every right to expect to take home the top prize, yet, when informed what the prizes would be, and deciding that they'd rather have second place, they began to talk as if they had tried too hard. No one said these words out loud, but the feeling in the office was very much in line with regret that they had tried so hard in the first place.
That really hit home for me. When trying to incentivize behaviors, you need to make sure that the prizes offered match the effort folks are putting in. Offer a lackluster prize for coming out on top and you risk people calibrated their efforts for second place.
The story, however, has a happy ending. When the prizes were announced, we learned that our office had, in fact, come in second place. When this news broke, the sense of elation and joy was palpable within the office. We did it! We came in second! We're going to get the FREE BAGELS!!!
There's a lesson in there as well.
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This post first appeared on Eric Lanke's blog, an association executive and author. You can follow him on Twitter @ericlanke or contact him at eric.lanke@gmail.com.
Image Source
http://contestqueen.com/2015/second-place/
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