Rewards can deliver a short-term boost—just as a jolt of caffeine can keep you cranking for a few more hours. But the effect wears off—and, worse, can reduce a person’s longer-term motivation to continue the project.
When the reward is the activity itself--deepening learning, delighting customers, doing one's best--there are no shortcuts.
The misuse of extrinsic rewards, so common in business, impedes creativity, stifles personal satisfaction and turns play into work.