THE DANGLING CARROT

A MAGICAL WAND OF 21^st CENTURY

We make many choices on regular basis in our professional and personal life. Like volunteering for an additional responsibility in the job or choosing a store for purchasing monthly grocery for home. Although these choices are made by us but there are ways by which these choices can be influenced by others.     

The one motivational factor that has strong impact on our decision making is a Dangling Carrot. It’s a Dangling Carrot that drives us to take additional responsibilities to make an impression on our seniors for getting promoted, motivate kids to work hard for a better score by promising gifts , use payment platforms like Amazon pay or Paytm to avail better cashback offers, purchase grocery from D-mart or Big bazaar for cheaper prices or vote for a politician who promises income tax rebates, job offers and security. We all are spell bounded by A Dangling Carrot. 

Dangling Carrot

A Dangling Carrot is the motivation that drives us towards our goals, to take actions, influence our decisions or behave in some manner. A Carrot Dangler is the one who dangles this carrot in front of others. We are surrounded by many Carrot Danglers in society, social media and profession on the other hand we too are carrot danglers for others.

I have also been chasing the carrots of professional growth one after the other for long now. In my personal & professional life I have come across 4 types of Carrot Danglers:

Authentic Carrot Danglers:

They always deliver that has been promised. They even support you to achieve it.

If you rank number-1 in your class, I will get you a new …….

Ring a bell? Parents, who else can be a better carrot dangler. They know what will make their child tick and support him or her in scoring good marks. True Leaders & Managers do the similar job for their team, isn’t it?

Self-Motivated Carrot Danglers:

One can be a carrot dangler for himself/herself. Self-motivated people keep re-inventing their own carrots, achieving one goal after the other.

“I don’t have dreams, I have goals. Now it’s on to the next one”                                                                                           -Harvey Specter, Fictional Character, TV Series-Suits

Tricky Carrot Danglers:

Over-Promise & Under-Delivery is a regular thing with these types of carrot danglers. They will deliver but not that was promised or expected.

So next time when someone wearing a khadi (a politician) promises to deposit huge sum of money in your bank accounts or a full loan waiver if you elect him, beware-tricky carrot is in action. The Carrot dangling is at peak during this election season-2019.

On the other hand, promises of salary hikes, incentives and promotions also fall in this category, if they are not delivered as promised.

Con Carrot Danglers:

The Carrot offered by these danglers is too good to be true

On Oct 19, 2018 Times of India reported that in Lucknow 45 people were conned on the pretext of being provided jobs. Many were promised government jobs while others were promised jobs in merchant navy and were duped of high sums of money.

In a country where unemployment is major concern, job guarantee is a carrot that works like magic. I have received many spam mails congratulating me on winning a Mercedes, a Rolex watch or a huge monetary prize from a big company. Their play is to ask for registration fee or handling charges and con us.

I have also been a carrot dangler for about 7 years now. As a part of Brand Management, I have made many incentive plans for my sales team to execute the strategies and achieve the sales target. In my view there are few basics one needs to follow to learn the Art of Carrot Dangling.

The Art of Carrot Dangling

People won’t start chasing the carrot if they feel it’s not what they want or it’s not within their reach. On the other hand, they will stop chasing it if one dangles it for too long and never deliver it.

Same carrot doesn’t work on different people, like one key can’t open all the locks. Even same carrot might not work on same people again, one needs to have a bigger or a different carrot to keep people in chase. 

Before one decides which carrot to dangle, he/she should know the profile of targeted people. Like their goals in life, habits, family background, financials, demographics etc. Companies today are investing huge in consumer database to identify which carrots to dangle. It has become a big business opportunity.

Companies like Amazon and Flipkart have taken it to next level. These corporate have systems in place to make customized Carrots for their Consumers. If you compare the home page of your Amazon or Flipkart account, it will be a bit different than others. It’s because the Artificial Intelligence has been learning from your shopping & surfing habits. It shows you the category wise items within the price range that you are interested in and maximize the sales opportunities.

If you observe closely, the carrot is in action everyday & everywhere. It’s like a magical wand that one can wave to influence the choices made by others. So, What’s your experience? Have you ever been spell bounded by any dangling carrot? How many times have you been successful in eliciting a desired response by dangling a carrot? Which new carrots have you explored? Do share with us.

References

Times of India news: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/three-men-duped-job-conning-cases-on-rise/articleshowprint/66279515.cms accessed on 30-03-2019

Blog Image Compilation of pictures from: rawpixel.com & Macrovector from Freepik and Maja Cvetojevic from Pixabay