Short: Can You Pay People to Do What You Want Them to Do?

From my newsletter on Behavioural Science applied

Monetary incentives have been quite a controversial topic. Initially, we thought that monetary incentives were everything we needed to motivate people. Then, we realised they often don’t work. Now again, we are seeing how the effectiveness of incentivising with money is more of a case-by-case kinda happening.

Today we’ll cover:

Commit!

The story told and retold — and honestly my favourite myth — is that of Ulysses and the Sirens.

Ulysses wanted to pass near the rocky shores but he knew that the call of the sirens would bring him and his mates to the rocks. Therefore, he ordered everyone to cover their ears, but…he also wanted to hear. So he tied himself to a pole. For Ulysses, it works well, because he found a way not to fail.

Dan Karlan, a guy slightly obsessed with his weight, founded Stickk on the assumption that increasing the price of one’s vice is a good way to commit to stuff. It all started when he and a friend, having gained weight, put 10k on the line to give to each other if they hadn’t lost weight. This kept it on his feet, and slim. When his friend regained the weight, he asked for the money.