Reader Contest - Winner...

Well, the first Challenge Dividend contest is complete and I was excited to see several intelligent responses.  All five entrants had great points on why the photo above could happen and ways that the Challenge Dividend concept could help.

In brief, here's what the contestants said:

• Graham: Work rules create the blunder; they kill the market forces that would allow each person to find an appropriate answer, using their brains.
• Bender: Public workers don't have competition to answer to, nor other motivation to improve.
• Richman: Seems like the painter would take personal pride in the effort, but seems to lack self-motivation.  Open it up to outside bids, and maybe fix the machine itself.
• MK: A more challenging and motivating work environment is missing here.
• Maly: Individuals need to take personal ownership and choose excellence in spite of the hassles.

These were all terrific, and some potential additional directions include:

• This looks like a low-traffic road, so the operator could afford to be lazy.  Less challenge in the form of embarrassment.
• Maybe the incentives were misaligned.  The worker(s) are rewarded more by working quickly than in getting it right.
• No direct supervision.  The foreman wasn't working that day so everyone relaxed.  Someone along the line is likely judged on quality of the job, but they didn't push this through to the entire team.
• Revenge.  With lack of economic challenges or incentives, emotions can get in the way.  Maybe the painter was mad at the guy who was supposed to clear debris.

While I thank everyone for their time and energy, I do have to choose a winner....

The winner of the first Reader Contest is Jonathan Richman.  What put Richman over the top was his thorough analysis of the human element: the fact that people do often take pride in their work (without other incentives), the insight that a truly lazy person would just paint over the tree, and the potential that the truck painting software messed up (maybe the market for painting software needs a challenger).   Jonathan, your $10 iTunes card is on the way...

At the end of the day, this example shows that there are often no simple answers, but hopefully the Challenge Dividend is a framework that can help individuals and organizations analyze and improve.

Stay tuned for more reader contests in the months ahead!

Comments

[J. Richman]

Thanks for the gift card, still picking out my songs. I appreciate the recognition and will look forward to the next reader contest.

Everyone had some good insights and it was a good discussion all around.

Thanks,
JMR