LeanBlog Podcast #57 - Alfie Kohn, "Punished by Rewards"

My
guest for LeanBlog Podcast #57 is Alfie Kohn, an author and
lecturer in the fields of education, parenting, and human behavior.
His books include
Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans,
A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes
and
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad
Thing.
I reached out to Alfie after there was some very good
discussion on the blog about Chicago Public Schools giving
incentive payments to high school students earning A’s, B’s, and
C’s. Many of the arguments that Alfie makes are reminiscent of Dr.
W. Edwards Deming and can be applied, more generally, to many
organization settings where rewards and incentives are used. I hope
you find this interesting and thought provoking. If anything, the
Dr. Deming fans will want to listen to the end of the Podcast where
Alfie does a dead-on impression of Dr. Deming. To read more
articles, Alfie’s website is http://www.alfiekohn.org .

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Episode #57 Key Words and
Links:

• 
  Blog post that started the discussion
• Alfie’s
  website
• Rewards for grades are a “reward for a reward” — magnifying
  the harm.
• What you get is, at best, temporary compliance, but at a very
  high cost.
• Discussion of nominated Secretary of Education, Arne
  Duncan.
• Great questions about the purpose of education — to create
  learners or prep people for the working world?
• Ties to the philosophy and lessons of Dr. Deming.
• Great Deming impression at the end!

If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or
my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can
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