Incentive Intelligence

This Just In: Oxygen Good for You and Recognition Is Good for Employees

That’s right – oxygen is good for you.  In fact if you don’t have it you die.  Oxygen is critical for:

• Breathing
• Living
• Cleaning tough stains out of your laundry (ask Billy Mays)

Now that you know about oxygen – go breathe some and feel better.  And then repeat.

Stay tuned – ‘cuz next week I’m gonna say the same thing but in reverse order.

Recognition and Rewards Drive Engagement

Yup, got it.  Oh, you want to tell me again about it? Sure go ahead.  Oh, a webinar about it from a different company?  Sure go ahead.  Oh, wait, a white paper about recognition creating 29.2 million jobs in the fourth quarter and fixing the global warming problem?  Thanks.  Oh, and yes you can have my email address so you can send me a link to another white paper telling me that recognition is a good thing for all employees ( not just good ones.)

 Aaaaannnnnnd... more and more posts, articles, tweets, webinars, updates, LinkedIn group updates - all about how recognition is good and can create an ROI measurable to the 2,345,693,303 digit of PI.

Is this NEW information? 

Isn’t recognition covered SOMEWHERE in the SPHR exam?  Didn’t the first 3,451 press releases about a new recognition update make it to your inbox?  How is it possible that we are STILL having this discussion?

Recognition works.  It needs to be sincere.  It needs to be timely.  It needs to connect to mission/values/goals. 

Got it?  Great, next on the agenda – brain surgery.

I cannot believe there is a demand for the same white paper topic, blog post topic, webinar topic week after week, month after month, year after year.

Someone help me understand.

I learned about addition and subtraction early on in my life – I’m pretty sure I don’t need to go to a webinar every month to hear about it again.  I got the concept. 

So where is this demand coming from? 

It’s a question, a rant, an observation.

Here’s what I want to see…

Webinars that talk about WHY we don’t teach managers how to do recognition correctly.  We wouldn’t put up with CPAs that can’t do a T-Account and couldn’t find their debit with both hands would we?  Why do we put up with managers who won’t/can’t do recognition?

Where’s the webinar on how to fire someone who won’t recognize correctly?  Or at all?  That’s a skill we need to implement more often.

Fer chissesakes – recognition is a mission critical skill today.  Get on it.

(Drop microphone and exit stage right.)

 

Related articles

• Gamification of Incentives and Recognition (i2i-align.com)
• Recognition or Incentive? Carrot or Crystal? It's Not Really A Choice (i2i-align.com)
• Major Difference between Incentives or Recognition Programs (awardemployees.com)

Wanna Hear a Podcast on Incentives? Sure You Do...

Reading is so 2010.  Listening is all the rage now with kids.  You need to jump on board.

Over on TLNT.com today is a 26 minute podcast I did with Lance Haun (@theLance.)  We cover the incentive industry, why HR is more interested in rewards today - why engagement is key to success and how that has affected how incentives and rewards are positioned.  We hit on the "AIG Effect" - patriotism versus mercanaries - cash vs. non-cash - all the biggies.

Basically, it's a bar conversation without the bar (insert sad face here.)

Pop over - spend a few minutes and let us know what you think.

 

 

Related articles

• Should You Run an Incentive Program? Free Download. (i2i-align.com)
• I2I In The Press - FOT and USA Today (i2i-align.com)

What I Learned From @SBrowneHR Yesterday – Old School Still Good School

One week from today I’ll be rolling into Sandusky, Ohio – home of Cedar Point – winner of the “Golden Ticket Award” as the best amusement park in the world and of course…the 2011 Ohio SHRM (Society of Human Resource Management) meeting.  While I won’t be rollin in like Guy Fieri in a cherry 1967 Camaro SS – I will be looking for a guy who makes pizza.  And that would be Steve Browne (@SBrowneHR), HR leader for LaRosa’s Pizza in Cincinnati OH, intentional human and good mood virus for the rest of us lesser men (and women.)  Steve is helping plan and operate the Ohio 2011 SHRM Chapter meeting September 21 – 23, 2011 in Sandusky.

The #OHSHRM will be 750+ attendees strong and will feature great speakers such as –China Gorman (@ChinaGorman, previous COO of SHRM Nataional), Mark Stelzner (@Stelzner), William Tincup (@WilliamTincup), Bill Boorman (taking the long trip from the UK, @BillBoorman), Jennifer McClure (@CincyRecruiter), Michael VanDervort (@MikeVanDerVort), Benjamin McCall (@BenjaminMcCall) – all great friends, great resources and overall great people. 

And then, you have moi.  I’m also on the docket on Friday morning – but I’m just there so the others look really, really good by comparison. ;-)

But enough of the introductions…

Old-School = Great Engagement

I am writing today because yesterday I was on a conference call with a few hundred or a few dozen people (who knows – doesn’t matter) who are attending the #OHSHRM conference.  It wasn’t a planning meeting for speakers.  I wasn’t a special get-together for those behind the scenes.  It was a meeting for those who are simply – attending.

Steve put together two (2) conference calls prior to the meeting and invited ANYONE who is attending to call in and listen to him and the planning team talk about what to expect, how to dress, what to look for and to personally invite each attendee to seek him out and introduce themselves to Steve and the crew.  Attendees could then ask questions and get more information on the event.  Right there.  Right now.  Personally.  Gasp – what was Steve thinking – actually connecting with the audience directly?

See… Steve is all about being intentional… doing the work and making the effort – nothing happens without an intentional decision to do it and this little phone tete-a-tete was one such intentional effort on Steve’s part to make sure all were welcome and knew what to expect.

How Does This Apply To Incentives and Rewards?

Simple.  Most programs are launched and managed by email/snail mail/youtube, etc.  They are “mass-launched” – but what Steve’s little phone meet-up told me is that we should consider personal introductions to our incentive programs and have PEOPLE introduce them – and have conversations about them – in real time- supported by social media tools if you have the right audience.

I know over the years companies have done away with intro meetings and ongoing get-togethers due to cost pressures and the fact that many workforces are geographically dispersed.  But that’s what makes this “old-school” idea so great.  It uses a simple and cost-effective technology (conference calling) and creates that human connection around your incentive and reward activity.

Specifically…

Sales Incentive Program Launch

Have the sales leadership host a call with the team immediately before the program launches – have a twitter hashtag and intro the program, the rules the awards, etc.  This gives the participants the chance to ask questions and also (and this is a big one) shows the participants that the sales leadership is on board and agrees with the plan.  They are a united team. 

Employee Program Launch (Annual Relaunch)

Exec team has a call – same twitter backchannel idea – with the various division managers/directors, whatever.  Same results – participants get first hand info and a chance to ask questions – leadership is positioned as a united front.  All good stuff.

Before Group Travel Award Operation

Getting 300 Dealers and/or Distributors to get with a program can be daunting for the operations team.  And for participants – a new country or destination can be a real question mark for them.  What to wear, what to bring, etc.  I know the travel company sends this stuff out in the “welcome” packet – but no one reads that stuff.  But if you have a few times set up in advance where a group can call in, talk to the sponsors and the travel staff it could go a long way toward making them feel comfortable with program. 

As an aside – the travel company could learn a lot about the concerns of the participants and be able to help them on site with those issues.

Those are only three ways I can see taking an “old school technology” like a “conference call” and turning it into a customer service and customer engagement activity.

Think about all the ways you could use a simple conference call to “personalize” your next incentive and reward program.

And this isn’t just for launches – think about quarterly updates (public companies do conference calls with the financial world – they find value in the conversation in addition to all the paper they generate) – think about a conversation with the participants broken out by performance (top, middle, bottom)… imagine the info you might gain from a conference call about the program.

I know we’re all “a-twitter” about new social media tools… but a group conference call specifically about your next engagement activity could do more to communicate how much you really care about your audience than any Facebook “like” or twitter retweet.

Net-Net = I took 1,000 words to say “pick up the freakin’ phone.”

 

I2I In The Press - FOT and USA Today

Been a tough weekend and I don't have anything original to add here today.  But don't despaire... you can still get Incentive Intelligence goodness in two, two, two outlets today!

 

First... Fistful Of Talent

Do you practice "Moral HR?"  Do you know what that is?  It's doing what's right when you don't have to.  Check the post on Fistful Of Talent today and weigh in.  Do you think you practice moral HR - or do we really live in a Gordan Gekko world?  Your call...

 

 

Second... USA Today on Incentive Trips

Had the pleasure of chatting with Charisse Jones from USA Today the other day on incentive travel awards in today's economy.  Her article (along with Roger Yu) was posted yesterday online.  Yeah... we get a bit of a nod in the article.  Not sure if it made the print version (if someone saw it let me know in the comments.)

If you're at all interested in what is going on in the industry and what other incentive companies are experiencing it's a good snap shot of today's incentive travel world.

(also... here's one from last year where gave some input as well...( Using trips as rewards for star employees makes a comeback )

So there ya go... two nuggest from Incentive Intelligence... No go tell your friends all about it.

 

And - take some time today and reach out to a person you know on social media and talk to them phone-2-phone or face-2-face.  It might just make a difference.

 

 

Related articles

• Sharks and Company Culture - Weird But True (i2i-align.com)
• Killing 2 Engagement Birds With 1 Stone at Sonar6 (i2i-align.com)

Incentives You Can’t Keep May Be More Effective

Traditionally, incentive programs were designed around the idea of “do this get that.”  It’s been an axiom of program design.  Give people a reason to do something and they will do it.  Mostly, we’ve focused on our inner Gordan Gekko and assumed participants are rational and will do the things that maximize their personal ROI on the effort required to earn an award.

And, except when badly designed, these programs work pretty well.  Actually, when badly designed they work even better – but to the detriment of the whole versus the individual… again I’ll cite Wall Street as our cautionary example.

But new research is showing that maybe, just maybe, awarding people with stuff they can’t ever use or own is better for the person earning it – and better for the company offering it by actually spurring higher levels of performance.

Prosocial Incentives

Yeah, you read that right – a new term that I’m sure will be bantered about with the same frequency as “gamification” – is an incentive that, to quote a recent article in the Washington Post on the idea, is

“a novel type of bonus spent on others rather than on themselves”

The article highlights a study done by Harvard Business School, the University of British Columbia and the University of Liege.  To pull from the Washington Post article:

First they researched how the recipients “felt” about themselves after earning the proscocial award and the results:

“…Compared to people who did not get the charity vouchers, the employees who donated $50 said they were happier and more satisfied with their jobs. (The opinions were unchanged among those who got the $25 donation.)"

They then looked at actual performance (‘cuz hey, we don’t really care how they feel do we, we just want to know if the results were better)…

"They decided to study the effect in both sales and sports, giving Belgian pharmaceutical sales teams and Canadian recreational dodge ball teams money. Some were told to spend it on themselves, while others had to spend it on a specified teammate. The researchers found that those who had to spend the money on other teammates performed better, in terms of sales made or games won, than those who spent the incentive on themselves."

The author does note (as I do in a lot of these cases) that this is an academic study and didn’t really control for the myriad of variables within a larger organization but it is an interesting guide post for program design. 

Something for us to consider – if not implement.

Our Recommendation?

I’d recommend you do both – create a win-win-win.  Award the individual with something for themselves – and add a little sumptin’ sumptin’ to the award they can then use on someone else. 

Recipient wins, the social target wins, the company wins.

Pret A  Manger Has a Different Take On Prosocial

The article also references Pret A Manger’s unique recognition strategy which I think is pretty cool too…

"And 'when employees are promoted or pass training milestones, they receive at least £50 in vouchers, a payment that Pret calls a "shooting star,"' Clifford reports. 'But instead of keeping the bonus, the employees must give the money to colleagues, people who have helped them along the way.' The message? You didn’t do it alone, and need to recognize those who helped you get there."

Nice way to really cement the idea that “we’re all in this together.”

Ask yourself – could you do this in your company?  Should you?

How would this impact your next channel incentive program?  If your company has a charity they support – or if your client has one – why not tie some of the awards earned in the program to that charity or cause and connect the earner to it through awards.

I’m not talking about just throwing up an “option to redeem” for charity contributions – I’m talking about you being prosocial and making it an automatic thing – 5% of earnings go toward a charity.

Is this something you’d be willing to do?  Would taking 5% from a budget allocated to awards and moving to social causes really cause a program to fail?

Or, as this research suggests… cause it be more successful?

I’m in the latter camp and think you should be too.

And a video treat for those that might want to consider social responsiblity and including "prosocial" incentives... (video embedded - RSS and email subscribers may have to click through to see video.)

 

 

Related articles

• Engagement Update - No Summer Vacation Here! (enterpriseengagement.org)
• Should You Run an Incentive Program? Free Download. (i2i-align.com)

The Incentive Compendium - The Next Round

A couple weeks ago I posted a link to our "compendium" of articles from the incentive, engagement, recognition and reward world.  My initial thought was to create one each week.  But that was too much work - and I'm all about reducing the "too much" part of work.

So, I've just added on to the last compedium.  Over time it will grow and grow... kinda like that stuff in the back of your refrigerator.  

This go-round we have about a dozen new posts - listed before the ones I put in last time.  This way - if you're new to the compendium - you can review the history.  If you've seen it before you can just view the newest batch.

This time I've got stories culled from the interwebs by:  The Social WorkSpace, Incentive Magazine, Bret Simmons, Compensation Cafe, Baudville, TLNT and a few more.  All good stuff.

Jump out to the site - check out the various topics and feel free to come back here and suggest other I should be watching.

Have a great Thursday!

 

Related articles

• Just Because I'm a Giver... The Incentive & Reward Compendium (i2i-align.com)
• This Weeks Incentive Industry Compendium (i2i-align.com)

Flipping the Funnel – Recognition Bottom Up? An IT Challenge

Employee recognition programs have come a long way. 

 “Management” has finally realized that engaged and thinking employees are a good thing and they’ve shuffled off the coil of the industrial revolution mindset.  If my google reader is any judge of the corporate zeitgeist, many companies are instituting strategic recognition and taking the time to invest in engagement initiatives.

But that shouldn’t stop us from asking more questions and testing new ideas.

One that I’ve been noodling the past few days is about the whole idea of “manager to employee” recognition.

From the Castle

In many programs there is a subset of recognition – typically driven by nominations – whereby “management” reviews submitted nominations and chooses a worthy recipient.  I like the idea of nominations.  What I’m wondering about is the selection process. 

When I see that process I think of royalty, surveying their domain and picking a worthy serf to hold up to the masses...

“See, I am magnanimous.  I am aware and connected to your strife and your lot in life.  I will show the world I am good and generous by bestowing this award upon you.  Now, take a knee and I’ll tap first your left, then your right shoulder with this crystal trophy somewhat resembling a flame or a claret jug (or both.)"

Here’s what I’m thinking now…

Studies show that managers are the real drivers of engagement.  Sure, you can have Congress-worthy benefits and haute cuisine in the company café, but if your manager is a dolt – no amount of “manager to employee” recognition is going to create engagement.  Bad bosses and bad management trump employee recognition and engagement initiatives every time.

Sooooo…

What if we started nominating “bosses” and had their performance reviewed.  What if the employees vetted the nominations?  Also, what if a portion (a sizeable portion) of a “managers” performance review was based on nominations from the “rank & file.”   And what if the impact of these nominations increased based on the manager’s level in the organization (meaning the CEO could have 90% of his compensation based on how well people in the org thought s/he was doing – the Sr. VP of Product Alignment would have 70% of s/he comp tied to it somehow – and so on.)

That would change a few things wouldn’t it.

But let’s just take away the comp discussion for a minute.

Why not just do the recognition program?  Why not?  Permission is much harder than forgiveness. 

The Challenge…

Hey – brilliant gal or guy in IT – set up a website untraceable to you – load up the managers in the org – allow for anonymous profiles (include some way of vetting that everyone really is an employee – I’m sure you could figure out a way) – and then allow those folks to start rating managers (kind of a “hot or not” thing maybe).  Let it loose on the organization.

At first it will probably be abused – but once a couple of managers see that they are getting good marks for transparency and authenticity it will start to carry some weight.  Once a few Sr. VPs get their comeuppances – some of the C-Level might take note.

Bottom line – everyone wins. 

Unless of course it becomes a real cluster – which would also indicate you’ve got a real culture and management issue anyway.

Before the haters jump in – I know the first thing you’ll hear...

"What makes employees think they know what good management is?  Why should they rate me?  I’ve been to school and I’ve got the annual training on diversity and sexual harassment.  I’m a ‘Manager’ with a capital ‘M.’”

Yeah… I get that. 

And if you really were a manager worthy of the title – you would think this is the greatest idea since my[_______].

Whaddaya think – is this great or what?

 

Related articles

• Gamification of Incentives and Recognition (i2i-align.com)

Gamification of Incentives and Recognition

I had a conversation with a reward and recognition professional the other day.  They asked me “what do you think of gamification in the recognition world?”  The implied addition to that sentence was, “versus the incentive world.”

My response... “Not good for recognition.  Good for incentive.”

He said – “y’know – that might make a good post.” 

Aaaaaannnnnnnd here we are.

What is Gamification

You’d have to be one of the actors in the GEICO commercials to not have heard about gamification.  Gamification is the new black.  Gamification will cure hiccups.  Gamification is the new “it” girl. 

And like any idea – it can be used for good – or evil.  Here’s a link to a pretty robust article on the gamification craze. 

From the post...

Gamification is:

The use of gameplay mechanics for non-game applications. The term also suggests the process of using game thinking to solve problems and engage audiences. 

And it is expected to be big...

A recent Gartner report from April of this year suggests as much. Analysts predict that by 2015, more than 50% of organizations will gamify their innovation processes.

“By 2014, a gamified service for consumer goods marketing and customer retention will become as important as Facebook, eBay or Amazon, and more than 70% of Global 2000 organizations will have at least one gamified application,” the Gartner report concludes.

Why Incentives And Not Recognition?

If you don’t really believe or understand the difference between incentive programs and recognition programs stop reading now.  The rest of this post will just confuse you and make you mad. 

Or check out some posts on this subject here, here, here, and here, then come back.

 

Incentives+Gamification = Good

Game mechanics – Points, Badgets, Levels, Leaderboards, and Challengaes – apply many of the influence techniques and social psychology things we talk about here on the site, consistency, commitment, scarcity, social proof.  They all play a role in influencing someone’s behavior and can turbo-charge an incentive program.

Now – time to split hairs – but it’s important. 

You can recognize achievements in an incentive program (that’s good) and levels and badges are those events.  They are recognition of specific achievements. 

But... they are not “recognition programs.”  They are recognition events within an incentive.  (Read that again -important concept time.)

 

RecognitionPrograms +Gamification = Bad

Recognition programs – ones that are driven from corporate culture and long-term business and personal values - do NOT lend themselves to overt gamification.

Here’s why...

First of all – they are already “gamified” – but in a more refined manner.

Think about it.  Recognition programs provide levels of achievement.  Recognition is already about assigning someone to a category whether that be “innovator” or “top sales” or “top service rep.”  Recognition programs rest on some of the elements of the gamification foundation.

But... and this is a big but (I cannot lie,) to add a level of “gamification” to an already “gamified” platform is like – well, adding peanut butter to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It is just too much.  It changes the sandwich from something good and gooey to something just gooey.  Adding gamification on top of a high-level recognition program just makes it less good and more gooey.  

Gamification = manipulation. 

If you “gamify” a recognition program – start layering in things that take away from the core values you dilute the real intent.  The real intent of a strategic recognition program is to reinforce a culture – reinforce core beliefs and tenets.  Gamification, in the word itself, communicates that the system can be manipulated.

In addition, gamification is about short-term – it’s about the “next step” – not the big picture.

Strategic corporate recognition programs reward bigger issues than a simple behavior.  Recognition programs – the strategic kind – not the little employee of the month parking space kind – require a more dignified approach (IMHO).

Can you use gamification in an overall recognition strategy?

Sure. 

Will it communicate that you don’t take recognition seriously and you think it is a game to be played versus a business approach to be lived?  Yep. 

Will people be engaged?  Yes. 

Engaged in scamming the system to get the badges, levels, etc., not to be recognized for their connection to the mission and values of the company.

Gamification takes the focus off the outcome and places it squarely on the game.  Recognition should focus squarely on the outcome and take the focus off the game.

So... if your incentive supplier wants to add gaming elements to your incentive program say “Tell me more.”

If they want to add gamification to your strategic recognition program, well, as they say in “The Holy Grail” – RUN AWAAAAAAAY....

(Video below from "The Holy Grail" - some may say NSF, but I think it's okay.  Email and RSS subscribers may need to visit the post on the website here.)

 

 

 

Related articles

• Maritz Says Game Dynamics Will Revolutionize Employee Recognition (prweb.com)
• Combining Recognition Awards & Games in the Workplace (awardemployees.com)
• Major Difference between Incentives or Recognition Programs (awardemployees.com)

Just Because I'm a Giver... The Incentive & Reward Compendium

A somewhat new service is available in beta called "Scoop.it." 

Scoop.it allows you to create a "newspaper" of sorts from things you find interesting on the web.  I'm experimenting with the service and of course I thought of you, gentle reader.

I asked myself - "what would help my readers in their day-to-day life and business."  And I answered - "a grouping of articles that someone else took the time to read and evaluate so that they can see what's hot and what's not in the incentive industry with little or no effort on their part."

That, is what Scoop.it facilitates.  And that is what I'm offering to you.  So, for the first (and possibly the last - but probably not) time I give you the...

The I2I Incentive and Reward Compendium

I subscribe to over 350 different blogs, sites, what-have-yous on a variety of subjects from science and pyschology to how to build steam-punk watches.  In addition, I monitor my twitter stream where I'm following 2,000+ people.  I also get a lot via email.  I have a lot of info coming in.  

It's from all those input streams that I find ideas for posts on this blog, posts on the FistfulofTalent blog and posts for clients and friends.  It's how I keep up with the industry and business in general.  

And now you can have a subset of that firehouse, vetted and consolidated for your reading pleasure.  

It's simply called the I2I Incentive and Reward Industry Compendium.

Want to Be Included?

Many of the feeds I get are from incentive and reward companies.  Some of their blogs have some interesting stuff you should be aware of.  In fact - if you want to be sure you're at least included in the first pass shoot me a note and let me know where your site is and I'll take a look and add it to my reader list.

CAVEAT:  If you have your feed set up to only show a "summary" or an excerpt so that I have to click through to the site - forget it.  Don't bother sending me the site info.  Feeds that only show a summary are simply padding their web page stats trading clicks for readers.  I don't click through.  I ignore the content ... period.  No exceptions.  A feed reader is for me to get info WITHOUT clicking out to your site.  So don't suggest your site if it only offers a summary feed.  (btw - none of your readers appeciate it either - it's a pain in the ass and it shows that the site is about you not them - they will remember that.  Just sayin'.)

Hope you find it interesting and helpful.  Let me know what you think in the comments.  Continue or cut?  Your call.

 

Use Your Smart Phone to Build Your Award Catalog

I only ask for 5% of revenues when this idea is built.  And it will be.  By me or someone else ‘cuz it’s brilliant, infinitely doable, cool, and did I say brilliant?

But like all great ideas I can’t take full credit.  If it weren’t for @chrisferdinandi and his blog "Go Make Things" I wouldn’t have thought of this the other day.

Chris uncovered an application using QRCodes, built by Tesco Korea (big global grocery company) that is simply brilliant as well.  (I’m using brilliant a lot lately – makes me sound British, no?)  From his blog...

"Tesco recreated an entire grocery store with signage in Korean subways. The layout and items were identical to those in their actual stores. Each item was labeled with a QR code. People waiting for their train could simply scan the QR codes to add items to their list, and have them delivered while they ride the train."

Also on his site is a video of how it works.  It is, have I said, brilliant?

What’s in Your Catalog

So I’m thinking... one of things every incentive company deals with is developing a catalog for award point redemption.  In the past it was paper-based and supported by a big staff of buyers and designers and printers.  Back in the day we'd actually have catalog wars – “mine is bigger than yours” fights and delays in launching to see if we could get a copy of the competitor's catalog and make ours bigger and badder.  We spent a lot of money on those things ($1 Million plus.)  Then the internet came along and everything went online.  Then Amazon.com got in (and then back out quickly) which changed our idea of what “lots of items” meant and now if an incentive company can’t say they have “millions” of items – well – they are just pikers aren't they?

But what if---- what if you could build your own individual and personal catalog simply by using the barcode scanner on your smart phone? 

You can use both QRCodes and Barcodes - there already are apps that scan the barcode and then tell you the price of the item at different stores so this is not a stretch.

Think about it.  Shopping in Kohls and you like that shirt?  Whip out our smart phone – punch the “My Catalog” app and up pops your barcode reader software, takes a picture of the item/bar code and uploads it to your personal online catalog.  As you earn points in your program (and this could be employee, channel or consumer) your app reminds you of what is in your catalog at various point levels and as you hit those levels it asks if you want to order it.  If you say yes... then automagically (I’ll admit I don’t have this all worked out – but hey – I never said it was VC ready) behind the scenes the item is ordered and shipped to your house/work/mistresses' condo. 

So... whadda ya think?  Should I start looking for retirement homes in France?

I know we think autonomy, mastery and purpose are great – but what’s really great is setting goals (internal AND external) and working toward them and receiving the reward WE WANT when we hit those goals.

I think it is brilliant (I know, again.)  But I think chip bag clips are the smartest thing I’ve seen in a while too...

PS... just to be trendy - we could also put a social sharing app in this that let's other people in the program see what you have made public in your catalog so they could add it to their catalog or share info on the item if they already have it (kind of a +1 for awards).  Okay, now maybe it's 10% of revenues. 

Hit me in the comments on via email and let me know when to expect the checks.