I was sitting at my computer working Monday night when I heard the doorbell ring. My wife answered the door and I heard a squeaky little voice asking my wife if she would be willing to sponsor the young girl in her school's participation in Jump Rope for Heart.
Perfect, I thought. Here's a chance to support a good cause while teaching kids about the benefits of incentives. I waited to hear how much per jump my wife would be willing to pledge. To my utter horror, she went looking for her wallet and gave the young lady a cash donation. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said to my wife, "what exactly are this young lady's incentives? She gets the same payment from us whether she jumps once or 1,000 times. Think of the horrible inefficiencies created by the need to monitor her performance. For her benefit and for the overall welfare of society, we should have put her on a per-jump incentive plan!
As you might imagine, I didn't get too far with this argument.
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