Innovation Network

Alfie Kohn

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"We have been in prison from wrong teaching. By perceiving that cooperation is the answer, not competition, Alfie Kohn opens a new world of living. I am deeply indebted to him."
-- Dr. W. Edwards Deming

Alfie Kohn has been described as the country's leading critic of competition, although he is quick to point out that there is not much competition for that title. He is the author of NO CONTEST: The Case Against Competition (1986), a revised edition of which was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1992.

NO CONTEST received the American Psychological Association's Award for Excellence in the Media and has been translated into Japanese, German, Italian, Korean, and Swedish. His fourth book, PUNISHED BY REWARDS: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes (1993), quickly became required reading in business schools and corporations across America for its provocative challenge to the conventional wisdom about motivation and compensation. His articles on these topics include "Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work" in the Harvard Business Review, "Competition versus Excellence" in the New York Times, "Challenging Behaviorist Dogma: Myths About Money and Motivation" in Compensation & Benefits Review, and essays in Inc. magazine and the Small Business Forum.

Kohn has appeared on "Oprah," "Donahue," and the "Today" show, National Public Radio and the BBC, and more than 200 other TV and radio programs. His work on motivational issues in the workplace has been described and debated in such publications as CFO, the Journal of the American Compensation Association, Training, Incentive, the Journal for Quality and Participation, the Washington Post, and on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. In 1998, Fortune magazine called him "America's most biting critic of money as motivator."

Read Alfie Kohn's article, "Forget the Bonus."

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