Brief: Satellite seminar focuses on quality

A leading figure in the quality movement is the featured
speaker in a three-hour satellite seminar March 29.

"Rethinking Motivation: Why Incentive Systems Cannot Work,"
sponsored by the Institute for Competitive Manufacturing,
will be held from noon to 3 p.m. in 419 Engineering Hall.

The seminar is presented by Alfie Kohn to a live studio
audience and simultaneously broadcast to licensed downlink
sites.

Kohn is the author of four books, including "No Contest: The
Case Against Competition," which "opens up a new world of
living," according to the late quality guru W. Edwards
Deming, and, most recently, "Punished by Rewards: The
Trouble With Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and
Other Bribes."

The seminar includes group activities, and participants can
interact with the speakers by calling or faxing questions
and comments.

The objectives of the seminar:

  * Explore the nuances of motivation, challenging the
    simplistic carrot-and-stick approach so prevalent in U.S.
    workplaces.

  * Question the conventional wisdom about compensation systems
    and demonstrate that the more closely pay is conditioned on
    performance, the more damage is done.

  * Invite participants to reflect on praise and recognition,
    competition and the increasingly fashionable practice of
    trying to bribe people to work together.

  * Focus on the concrete steps that can be taken to move from
    extrinsic to intrinsic motivation, from doing things to
    people to working with them, and from the manipulation of
    behavior to a common quest for quality.

The conference fee of $100 includes a box lunch, conference
materials and parking.

Registration is available through the Office of Continuing
Engineering Education, 422 Engineering Hall, 333-6634.