Ian Ayers’s Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done is an intriguing read. I devoured this book two months ago, and my mind keeps bringing the wise words back to the forefront of my mind. That’s a sure sign of a good book.

I am a fan of incentives. I probably overuse them, so it’s no surprise I picked this book to read, right? (We’re attracted to what we already love…) Ayers reminded me, though, that the absence of an incentive can feel like a stick, and the absence of a stick can feel like an incentive. That thought has helped guide several of my management decisions recently; no doubt it will continue to do so.

Ayers, the William K. Townsend Professor of Law at Yale Law School and a Professor at Yale’s School of Management, also discusses the “I’ll be brief” phenomenon, the energy of will power, commitment contracts, and the hedonic treadmill among other thought-provoking ideas, some of which make me laugh every time I hear them or see an example of them.

I’ll be brief; the book is worth your time.