Football, Fun And Five Dollars
It’s an old story. But it’s one you must hear. Because it provides a little peep into how we think, why we do the things we do. And what we can all do to live happier lives.
The story goes that there was an old man who lived in a house with a little garden. One day he was horrified to see his garden in a mess. Clearly someone had been running across and trampling on the grass and the plants. He was determined to find out who might have done it. A couple of days later, he found the answer.
A group of children were playing football in the area adjacent to his house. Every time the ball landed in his garden, one of the kids would jump in, pick up the ball and run back to his friends. Since this happened several times during the game, the garden was in pretty bad shape by the time the game was done. Upset and angry, he decided to give the kids a piece of his mind. He wanted to tell them to stop messing up his garden ‒ or risk having the football confiscated. As he waited for them to finish playing so he could talk to them, he noticed how much fun the kids were having. He could tell they were having a blast.
The old man had a change of heart. Instead of scolding the kids and telling them to stop, he called them all in and told them how happy he was to see them having a good time. Not just that. He gave each of the kids five dollars. Keep playing, have fun, he said. Next week the kids were back. They played, had fun. The ball often fell inside his garden and they ran all over it. And when the game ended, the old man gave those kids five dollars. This went on for a few weeks. Until one day when the kids finished their game and came to the old man to collect their five dollars. And he said he unfortunately didn’t have any money to give. They went away disappointed. And that was the end of the football games. The kids stopped playing.
Makes you think, no? Maybe there’s a little bit of that football loving kid inside each of us. We start off doing something we love. Then we start to get recognised and rewarded for it. We get used to the reward and the acclaim. And then without realising it, we continue to do it not because we enjoy it, but for the reward. And that’s when the trouble begins. The passion that got us started goes out of the window. And it becomes all about the five-dollar prize.
Incentives can be tricky. Leaders and organisations need to ensure that there is an intrinsic motivation that makes their people come to work every day. Make sure they see a purpose. Make work fun. And fulfilling. If you rely on the incentive, or the bonus or the promotion to drive them – you could be in for trouble. There’s a version of the football game being played out in organisations ‒ big and small.
Good idea then to remind yourself why you started to play football. Enjoy playing. And don’t let those silly five dollars mess with your life.
