Effort vs Results

BY Andrew von Essen
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Most of the ideas in this post are from Carol Dweck’s book Mindset. 

In my last post, I talked about the Perception Monster, a voice in our head that suppresses our perceived mental, physical and emotional capabilities. The Perception Monster tells us that we can’t solve the problem, beat the record, or be lovable. Like any creature, the Perception Monster needs to feed. One of the sneaky ways a Perception Monster feeds is how we reward results. 

After reading Mindset, I realized the importance of rewarding effort compared to rewarding results. Rewarding effort builds the habit of hard work. The habit of hard work is cheap and is worth more than any talent. We’ve all heard the saying that hard work eats talent for breakfast. 

The opposite is true of a culture of rewarding results. A results-oriented culture feeds our Perception Monsters when we don’t achieve the results desired. We begin to identify as failures and stop challenging ourselves to achieve better results. 

Think about the three scenarios below. What would happen if you rewarded the effort compared to the result?

Your child has a big test coming up and:

  1. they studied diligently and got an outstanding grade
  2. they studied diligently and got a poor grade
  3. they didn’t study at all and got an outstanding grade

With the first example, it’s easy to reward both the effort and the result because both are positive. The second example is a little trickier. As a parent, we would feel good about the effort put in and encourage the child to continue to work hard. The third example is the hardest. The child achieved a good result, but what did they learn by relying on their talent? 

Ultimately, results matter. They matter in business, in school, and most of our goals are results-driven. That is why the default mental model is to reward the result and not the effort. I’ve learned that rewarding the effort can have a powerful effect. The results of my work are no longer about who I am, but about the effort I put in and what I learn in the process. 

The Perception Monster feeds on us failing to get results. When we let go of worrying about the results, the Perception Monster can’t feed.  Results are rarely in our sphere of control, but the amount of effort always is. What would happen if you started rewarding the effort instead of the result?