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carrot or stick

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carrot or stick

(hyphenated if used as a modifier before a noun) An incentivization method in which a reward and a punishment are simultaneously offered/threatened as a motivation to complete some task. It is a variant of "carrot and stick," which means the same. We use the carrot or stick as motivation at this company: you make more money if you sell more units, or your pay gets docked if you don't meet your quota. Some people like it, but I think their carrot-or-stick approach creates a dynamic of fear in employees.

See also: carrot, stick