Your Emotional Brain
Have you ever been given a bottle of wine for helping a friend?
Did it make you feel good and make you go, “ohhh, you didn’t have to do that” but graciously accept the wine with a smile?
Of course you did.
Did you feel valued? Would you help them again?
Of course you would.
Did you care how much the wine cost? Or stand there trying to work it out?
Rather than giving you a bottle of wine, imagine your friend gave you $12 of gold coins (the $ equivalent of the wine).
Would you have felt as good? As appreciated? Or as happy to help them again?
Mmmm…. probably not.
Why not?
They have the same value and in both cases you received a reward for your efforts as a thank you. So, why does receiving the wine feel better than receiving the coins?
Let’s understand how your brain works (in part)….
Although the brain is made up of several parts, generally speaking we concentrate on 2 parts…. the LEFT side of the brain and the RIGHT side of the brain. Receiving any reward has an emotional response but how do we maximise budget for the best results?
Cash: Starts with emotion (that they are appreciated) and then moves quickly to dissatisfaction and embarrassment when they use the left brain to determine effort vs reward. Not a great outcome.
Bottle of wine: Again, starts with a positive response and continues to be appreciated because they can see the enjoyment they’ll get from it, they can talk about it and they can share it. And remember…. they didn’t expect it to begin with.
In order to drive and motivate people you must ensure the reward evokes the most emotion possible. This means it must be a reward that they would want and one that they can share with friends and family. The bottle of wine hits that square on.
When was the last time you appreciated getting money for helping a mate?
