How to get the most out of the people you work with
"Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.” — Charlie Munger, former vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
Incentives drive our behaviour.
At work, we aim to improve and get better so we can get promoted and get paid more.
In our lives, we aim to be funnier and healthier and more interesting so we can find a good partner, fit in with friends, and live longer to be with our families.
And while we all respond to some of the same incentives, we respond very differently to others.
And when you reward certain behaviour, you tell others "this is how you act to get rewarded."
This Tweet describes one of those situations well: punishing a team for missing a deadline vs. rewarding them for being aggressive.
When we interact with others, every action we take (or don't) sends a message to those around us: this behaviour does (or doesn't) get rewarded.
Much of succeeding in life with other people is recognizing and being able to predict how those around you respond to incentives.
Punish a particular behaviour, and you disincentivize that behaviour in the future.
Reward a particular behaviour, and prepare to see it more often.
Choose your incentives wisely.
Have a great week!
Graham
Links
📚 Book Ideas:13 Books to Read in 2024 - My friend Dickie asked his 375K followers on Twitter what their favourite reads of 2023 were, and this is the list.
Makes a great list to start with in 2024 if you haven't read them yet.
Dickie Bush 🚢
@dickiebush
8:28 AM • Dec 21, 2023
506
Retweets
3723
Likes
📖 The Cheapest Places to Live in the World in 2024 - I've often wanted to experience the full digital nomad life (I've done it for short stretches), and this list would be a good place if I was starting.
As it is, I'd like to start adding a couple months a year in one of these kinds of places (ideally avoiding some cold weather while doing so).
Currency arbitrage is something possible for more people as the world moves to remote work.
📷 These shots of a B-2 Spirit bomber are stunning:
Scott Lowe
@tropicostation
9:1 PM • Jan 1, 2024
1052
Retweets
11460
Likes
Tweet of the Week
The Tweet I shared in the intro is a long-form explanation of why teams start slowing down. A critical thing to understand for anyone working to improve team performance, and well worth the full read:
Shreyas Doshi
@shreyas
7:11 PM • Jan 12, 2024
272
Retweets
1827
Likes
