Reward behaviour not Result

Reward is something which we associate with achievement. Most people think reward is only supposed to be given when a person tries AND achieve something. The fallacy of this thinking is that most people give up their journey towards the achievement because of losing of hope that they will ever reach there. For example I have to learn to walk for say 6 kms in  1 hour. At present I can walk for maximum 30 minutes and cover 2.5 kms. So a good trainer would give me a program which has several milestones which need to be achieved and say in a 3 month plan I can achieve the ultimate goal. A good trainer would give small rewards for small achievements and help the trainee to keep up the motivation all throughout the journey. These small rewards will increase the probability of achievement more than a one-time big reward.

This approach can be put in practice by teachers, parents, students and even managers. For example there is a students who has bad handwriting, lack of subject knowledge, no punctuality and somewhat disciplinary issue. Most parents and teachers would want the student to immediately change and give him an offer a big reward if his performance is like an average student. However for a student with several challenges the rewards should be broken up in small pieces and given for him maintaining a positive behaviour. A student is about a million times more probable to improve himself if he keeps on trying to do so every single day for years and years, than a student who does sporadic efforts. If we see that a students is struggling hard to improve, this alone calls for a small reward.

I love giving medals, prizes and rewards to final winners. However the futility of that exercise is proven when year on year we have the same winners. I think rewards should be for improvement with one self’s past performance. Rewards should be for each individuals battle against his own circumstances. Rewards should be for attitude rather than aptitude. Such rewards will build a character, a fighter, an individual- what a world really needs. Rather than merely a winner, which is a title reserved for one person.

Such kind of small rewards have to be “administered” by people close to the students, like parents, friends and teachers. A single metric cannot be established to give such a reward. For example a student who got a fractured foot and still getting the same marks as he got in previous exams, even when his classmates performance fell, deserves a reward. A computer generated rank list will not give importance to such a struggle.

Small rewards can be simple pleasures of life like giving an ice cream treat to the child which he/she has been yearning for, taking him to his/her favourite movie or sometimes just spending time with him to do what he/she likes. Positive words of encouragement and a simple pat on the back are also rewards for the strugglers.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate, reward the behaviour and not the result. A good result may come by good luck, but a good behaviour comes only with a positive attitude and persistent efforts.  Behaviour builds a solid foundation for the future which is more important in the long run than merely cracking an exam.  

Keep up the good work!