I can’t speak for you, but personally I always loved rewards. They were a kind of period on what I was doing and that what I did … excelled. But to be honest, I really don’t think it was so much what the reward was as it was the anticipation of a reward. Receiving a ‘star’ for some academic prowess in grade school to ‘earning’ the reward at work… all were plus marks to me. But I have to ask myself – was the reward the thing or the acclamation I received when I got the reward? What happened when I didn’t get a reward? I was the over achiever type so it simply meant I tried harder the next time.
Don’t misunderstand – a pat on the back or a ‘well done’ by those who you want to think highly of you is not misplaced. What can be a problem though is when that’s the sole reason for doing something. A corollary question is: should you be rewarded for doing what you are suppose to do? Reward seeking people would probably say ‘yes’ and use the rationale that rewards are positive motivators. Perhaps. But the older I get the more I see the value of doing what one should as reward in and of itself. No, not altruistic – I’ve made a sort of peace with reward.
If we focus on the reward itself I would argue that we lessen why we are doing what we do. Actually we need to have a commitment to what we are about or why do we waste our time. In this case the reward is like frosting on a cake – excellent but not always necessary. The sense of accomplishment that accompanies goal attainment is as much a ‘high’ as receiving a reward for it. A sign of maturity? It’s all about self knowledge and what ‘works’ for you.
My ‘definitions’ of reward is that the reward should be related in some fashion to the goal and not expected behavior. If all you receive is a plaque of some sort for work you were assigned then what’s the purpose – it certainly wouldn’t motivate me. However if the reward was related to greater autonomy, responsibility, and input into work, then this would be very satisfactory for me. You need to know what type of reward works for you. And you need to not expect rewards for those things that are part of your ‘job description’.
