The Carrot Principle - Book Review

Looking For The Carrot Principle - Book Review

The central issue in "The Carrot Principle" is to spark motivation and enthusiasm in employees. The writers of the book, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, claim that the main catalyst for that endeavor is recognition.

Part one of the book starts with Charles Goodyear's experimentation, hard work, failures, and eventual success in coming up with the prototype of today's rubber industry. Once the writers lure the interest of the reader with that fascinating story, they go on to present their more or less proven theory of management rewards to stimulate employee participation.

They categorize leadership in basic four areas: Goal setting, Communication, Trust, and Accountability. When and if a manager becomes proficient in these areas, he still needs something more as an accelerator or a catalyst for employee motivation. That catalyst is recognition. Recognition is not a money reward, for money, as much as it is appreciated in the beginning, is used up and forgotten in its due time.

Real recognition comes in many forms: day-to-day pat-in-the back form of recognition, more formal recognition of employees when they go above and beyond their duties, employee's general career recognition, and celebrating with the entire team or company.

Whether they run a ten-person company or a major mega business, sticking with the carrot principle, managers achieve higher successes with productivity, engagement and retention of employees, and customer satisfaction. The book, The Carrot Principle, emphasizes the triumph of its principal idea with statistical proof by showing several graphs and remarkable case studies of ten years and numerous managers.

For those who claim they have budgeting or other problems for proper employee recognition, chapter ten gives 125 recognition ideas such as: "Don't send a card on an employee's birthday; deliver it to her in person. In advance of the visit, write on the card a short list of the person's achievements during the past year. Read it together. It will be one gift she won't soon forget."

As seen from the above quote, the language of the book is easy to understand and the ideas in it are explained with strength and clarity to obtain and maintain a motivated work force that will empower any business.

The book--ISBN-10: 0743290097 and ISBN-13: 978-0743290098--is in 176 pages and is divided in three parts and ten chapters with four appendices at its end.

Of the two authors who are best known as the carrot guys, Adrian Gostick earned his master's degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, where he is a guest lecturer on organizational culture. As an employee motivation expert, Gostick has appeared on several network television programs, and he is the leader of O.C. Tanner company's recognition training and publishing practice. Gostick has written several successful books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Invisible Employee. He also wrote the Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller, A Carrot a Day; The Integrity Advantage. His books The 24-Carrot Manager and A Carrot a Day are sold in more than fifty countries around the world.

Chester Elton, the other carrot guy, is a writer-lecturer on motivation. He has also co-authored The Invisible Employee; The 24-Carrot Manager, which was called a "must read" by Larry King; and the Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller, A Carrot a Day. As a motivation expert, Elton has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Fast Company magazine, has been profiled in The New York Times, and has been called "an apostle of appreciation" by the Globe and Mail (Canada). He has also been a guest on NBC's Today Show, CNN's Business Unusual, and on National Public Radio.

The Carrot Principle is an indispensable book for any manager; however, it is also a good book to read by the layman, because the ideas in it can readily be applied to everyday living.