Monday, January 4, 2010

Stick and Carrot Story


On last Saturday, I phone d a friend and I found him sitting in his office. I was surprised, since I knew he was off on Saturdays, I asked him the reason. And he very candidly replied, “Stick and Carrot.” And I realized the poor fellow’s plight as a raise was in sight and he was there on an off day to put in a bit more in his work (and perhaps also waiting for someone to drop by and see an efficient and responsible person sitting in the office).

Many of us have been through this stage, many times in our lives. The Stick and Carrot (mostly it is the carrot) which has been making us work like donkeys, rather more than that – but I do not know any animal which can be listed here who could fit in the scenario. It is sad that those at the helms of the affairs ruthlessly use their subjects for getting those left over juices even after full squeezes on which a man had his last walking strength hinges. Yet we continue to be driven towards the carrot, which continues to be remaining at a distance no matter how long we stick our neck forward. And that is how we continue to count days for a better day ahead.
However, this struggle to catch the carrot robs us of many opportunities to be with our family or even to a relax and have a peaceful sleep. And when finally the carrot is at hand, we find ourselves old and spent, no longer able to run and catch it. And then we find someone running past us to catch the same carrot once being offered to us. And that is how life goes on and the carrot remains uneaten – just like that old chicken which is hung every evening on the “Murgh Yakni” shops in the winters. 

Related Blog: Motivation

2 comments:

Asghar Javed said...

Well said. And here are my two cents. Stick and Carrot is a short cut to management. Stick and Carrot policy is seen to cover the lack of valid management practices, transparency and merit.

Best thing is the local organisations have started to realize that management practice pay a great deal. I can see the change coming albeit at a very slow pace.

I wish you write more on this and explain how our organisations must avoid Stick and Carrot policies and start adapting management principals.

Jalal HB said...

Wait and see - I will write more on how to motivate and what could be the best strategy in my subsequent posts.
Thanks for taking time and leaving your mindset.