
Public failure as a motivation - matstc
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/credible-commitments-and-embarrassment-or-why-im-telling-you-im-running-the-stockholm-marathon/
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mhartl
The key to good public failure motivation is to make it opt-in. Blog post
committing yourself to run a marathon: good. _But:_

 _Past students of mine have repeatedly told me to be a bit of a bastard in
the classroom, as they find the persistent threat of embarrassment (if they
are unprepared) to be a useful motivator._

That's a recipe for disaster. People's learning styles vary greatly, and
helpful motivation to one student might be traumatic humiliation to another.
Since students are a captive audience, the people who hate that style will
just stop coming to class.

People will embarrass themselves enough as it is; no need to do it for them.

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derefr
I think the point was that the motivation was of _avoiding_ the "traumatic
humiliation." Obviously, though, you have to figure out "who can take it" to
set a few examples for the rest, perhaps even briefing those people in
advance.

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wallflower
I don't think he is going to fail. A marathon is an achievable goal if you
have a training program and apply it. If the NYTimes is smart, they'll get the
a good coach to help him. It's a lot harder to fail if you have a good coach.

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mixmax
Great idea, it's just potentially very embarrasing.

