Candle problem: Difference between revisions

Enter flamboyant pianist Elton Glucksberg, whose addition was to run the [[candle problem]] with two groups, each incentivised differently. One group was not given an incentive but told the experiment was a to test out various problems to decide which to use in a later experiment”. The 25% fastest problem solvers in the other group would win $5 each, the fastest, $25. The rest got a [[donut]].

It turns out those incentivised to be greedy capitalist [[Rent-seeking|rent-seekers]] were disinclined to collaborate, forced themselves into a narrow, white-knuckle footrace towards a goal they didn’t well understand and ''didn’t do very well''. Those without the pressure to kill or be killed collaborated and, on average, solved the problem far more quickly. This really ought not to need a Ted Talk to point out. The incentives are all wrong: they discourage collaboration of the sort which obviously will help in solving the problem.

Anyway, in this way, by the simple expedient of [[libtard|metropolitan liberal]] reasoning, was naked capitalism finally [[Falsification|falsified]], vanquished and logicked out of existence. As a result, there aren’t any [[Investment bank|investment banks]] any more, the canals of Venice run clear, the sky over Zhengzhou is a brilliant polaroid blue, and unicorns gamble in the wildflower meadows of Rotherhithe.

Well, not quite. But the insistence of big organisations on narrow, stupid compensation models maddens {{author|Daniel Pink}}, giver of said TED talk, who rails at the absurdity and venality of our institutions, whose leaders stick religiously to the traditional bonus structure in the face of overwhelming evidence that it doesn’t work. It doesn’t just madden Pink, it ''baffles'' him.

As ever, the [[JC]] has a theory: it is all about ''personal incentives''. In the same way that the average [[Survivor|wage-slave’s]] major motivator during her career is [[fear]] — and her primal instinct is the covering of her own behind, what propels the captains of our industry is ''personal enrichment''. Solving the organisation’s, and its clients’, problems and achieving general commercial goals of the collective in a way that empowers and energises the rank and file is, you know, ''good'', inasmuch as it generates a healthy pay packet, but it is still a second-order derivative of ''generating that healthy pay packet''. If, by some unfortunate turn of events, the two should conflict, it should not take a clairvoyant to work out which imperative will prevail: it won’t be “the collective betterment of the whole”.  

Now consider the candle incentives. The [[CEO]] is in an excellent position to decide whether to go with the ''individual'' incentive or the ''collective'' incentive because ''he’s the boss''. He is also well placed to influence who among the workforce should get that big prize. No need to consult your local clairvoyant on that one, either, nor to predict that his management suite, if they think they might be in for a fiver, are likely to agree with him.  

The remainder of the employee group, who are destined for a [[sugary treat with a hole in it]], may have a different view, but they are in no position it advance it, because ''no-one with any influence is listening to them''. The reason for that is because ''the people with influence are all on the phone to their Aston Martin dealers''.  

If our captains and leaders ''were'' minded to rationalise their decisions — and that would require powers of self-awareness that, as a rule, they lack, but let’s just say — they might look at it this way: to fund the individual incentive model will cost just $150 ($25 for the CEO and 150 between the 25 board members). To fund the collective incentive model, would mean giving everyone — including ourselves— either ''nothing'', or a fiver, or ''the whole twenty-five bucks''.

Now no-one likes the sound of a rolling [[donut]], so that’s off the table. But funding everyone a fiver would cost $500, and giving everyone $25 would cost ''two and a half grand''. So, unless the collective incentive would create a ''huge'' increase in productivity, purely in [[cost]] terms, the individual incentive scheme is ''much'' more attractive to our shareholders...