Incentivize the Process

You may have heard of the cobra effect. It’s based on a story from the mid 1800’s when the British Empire ruled over India. There was a problem with venomous cobras killing people and livestock. The British, wanting to reduce the cobra populations, offered a bounty for each cobra that was killed and turned in.

So what happened?

People essentially became cobra farmers. They captured, bred, and turned in cobras for the bounties. The British incentivized the wrong thing. When they caught on, they stopped paying bounties. The breeders released all their snakes and the cobra population was higher than ever.

When you incentivize results, bad actors will always find a way to cheat. Bad sales reps will lie to customers to get the quick sale, repair techs will cut corners to get as many repairs done as quickly as possible, people will find a way to cheat.

Instead, develop a good process and incentivize that. Results will always follow.

My triathlon coach has, more than once, yelled at me for worrying about my speeds during individual workouts. It was one of the biggest changes I had to make in my thinking when I hired her. I would always try to beat the previous day’s time. Be a little faster everyday. This of course, led to burnout and injury. I was worried about the wrong thing, had a bad process, and sold out my long term goals to achieve my short term goals.

Now, my coach has me focus on process and consistency. I worry about staying in my heart rate zones regardless of speed, keeping my cadence up, good recovery, and doing all the little things that keep me healthy. When I get those steps right, my speed always goes up.

Focus on the process. If you are getting the basics right, the results will follow.