If we don\u2019t hold their feet to the fire<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep up the pressure<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ratchet up the stress<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll do nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we don\u2019t hold threats over their heads<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like swords of Damocles <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or pendulum blades<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or Looney Tunes anvils,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll be lazy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And nothing will get done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we don\u2019t hold out carrots <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And threaten with sticks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And offer incentives<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They will sit indolent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And turn away<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And waste their time doing other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we don\u2019t motivate them <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With consequences and rewards – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With your name moved into the red zone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the bulletin board<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a referral or a D or F<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or a gold star by your name <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or a smiley face in the margin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or an A (B probably won\u2019t cut it)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll be unmotivated<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To do the tasks set before them<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the center will not hold <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And things will fall apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we show mercy <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we drop our cynical certainty <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That they are only motivated from the outside<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They will pounce on our weakness <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And do as little as humanly possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you give them a single point they don\u2019t deserve<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They will take advantage of it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And learn nothing, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accomplish nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take away the threats and rewards, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those two side of the same coin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Called motivation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you are unplugging their power from the wall<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking the wind out of their sails<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emptying the tank<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clipping the wings<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That hold them aloft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only reason they\u2019ll do anything<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is because someone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is hovering over their shoulders<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quietly threatening them<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or shouting right in their ear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the only real motivation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For them is fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t understand <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why they aren\u2019t <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Motivated by a fire within<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A desire to learn <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And a yearning <\/p>\n\n\n\n
for knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It can’t possibly be my fault.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If we don\u2019t hold their feet to the fire Keep up the pressure Ratchet up the stress They\u2019ll do nothing. If we don\u2019t hold threats over their heads Like swords of Damocles Or pendulum blades Or Looney Tunes anvils, They\u2019ll be lazy And nothing will get done. If we don\u2019t hold out carrots And threaten Read More >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[14,144,142,143,141,140],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358,"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrfitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}