No it’s not
Money is a good incentive to do many things. It is certainly a necessity. You need it to get things done. But unfortunately it is not the only incentive. Let me explain.
Is there a monetary value to these fall leaves and the rays of autumn sun shining through them? You may say yes, or no. But you know what? It’s not for sale ;)
From management schools to living room of a developing country it can be a heated debate. However, as opposed to give my opinion let me lay out a few examples.
During the financial crisis 2008-09; big investment houses didn’t want to let go executive bonuses worth millions of dollars. Even though they were getting bailed out by the public. They said they need to stay competitive and therefore need to incentivize their executives with money. Two things happened:
Most of those executives didn’t have a clue what they were doing
They took the money and they ran
Incentive didn’t help them to be loyal. It neither helped the companies nor helped the public. In only help the person giving and receiving the incentive. The person or board giving the incentive also received monetary incentive in return. So it is just a back scratching activity.
Another example from tech world. When Google incentivized their employees during the mid to late 2000s, they found out quickly that giving extra money won’t get them talent beyond a certain point. Meaning tech industry is competitive. People knows competition’s salary. So although you can get a sought after developer say from AMZN by giving him/her higher salary.... but it won’t last long. Soon MSFT may offer even higher salary and take the sought after developer away. It’s called “poaching”.
So they thought just salary won’t do it. They must incentivize in some other ways. So they started to give employees others perks.... free food... free laundry.... better life inside campus... emotional support... family support.... flexible hours... work from home (well before Covid)...unlimited vacation... And together all these worked much better than just money.
Why are you in Hive?
Yes, to earn a bit of additional income. Understood. There is nothing wrong with that. However, if that is the only thing you think about as you produce your content, you likely will produce ordinary stuff. You know why? Because your creativity in not in it. Your heart is not in it. You will churn post after post, and soon no one will have any interest in them, including you.
How do you know if your content in gaining traction. No, not how much vote you are receiving. It’s how many unique users you are receiving. How many interesting conversations are happening on your post. How many people are talking, praising after your stuff off line. What is your general influence on the chain.... how many knows you and how many you know personally. That’s how you measure success. That’s how you measure value.
If money would be the best incentive you wouldn’t be doing Facebook,eh? The reason you do Facebook or Instagram is because your friends are there. You do that to communicate, you do that to have a good time. You don’t earn any money from Facebook. What’s your incentive? You are there and active, eh? So, think about it.
You don’t hold hand of your loved ones because of money, you don’t hug your kids because of money, you don’t sit down next to your elderly to have a chat because of money, you don’t give a phone call to your long lost friend because of money. What’s your incentive?
It’s love, it’s respect, it’s friendship. That’s your incentive to be in life. That’s your incentive to be in hive. You do that, and money will follow you.
