[youlost_thegame]

Well, I'm sorry to say that I believe exactly the opposite. Public committing means a high level of responsibility and scrutiny, and it is the best motivator for any task.

In our weelky meetings we write down each task that needs to be done and the name of the person in charge, then send it by email. Even if there is no follow-up the next week, we observed that stopping to send the emails leads to less work done (or, at least, not the work that is expected to be done by the managers)

[vidarh]

Believe what you want, but your belief is directly contradicted by evidence.

Also note that your example is of something very different, as it is not personal goals of the person being put in charge of the tasks, but tasks put in place to carry out a duty to someone else.

With personal goals, publicly committing to them will rarely lead to a strong negative reaction if you fail.

[Travis]

I'm not so sure it's so clear (in research) that some form of public commitment reduces the likelihood of completion.

In fact, Robert Cialdini found that commitment was an excellent form of motivation. "If people commit, orally or in writing, to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment because of establishing that idea or goal as being congruent with their self image. Even if the original incentive or motivation is removed after they have already agreed, they will continue to honor the agreement. For example, in car sales, suddenly raising the price at the last moment works because the buyer has already decided to buy."[1]

Cialdini performed his original research several decades ago, but it has been continued by the Freakonomics/Kahneman/"Nudge" crew. To the best of my recollection, all of their experiments showed a strong positive effect when public commitment was added. It's the principle behind StickK.com, as well.

Perhaps there are certain types of improvements (vague self improvement was mentioned elsewhere in this thread) that are harmed by external reinforcement, but I think that's more the exception rather than the rule.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini (also check out his "psychology of influence" book for more on the topic)

[a_a_r_o_n]

"Public committing means a high level of responsibility and scrutiny, and it is the best motivator for any task."

It's the best motivator for some people for some tasks. People and tasks are infinitely varied.

"In our weekly meetings ..."

It's interesting to ask whether motivation works differently for public-ish work tasks versus private goals.

[rbarooah]

Perhaps the effect depends on whether you are part of a team or not.

[youlost_thegame]

Yes, I guess you're right. Motivation is very dependent on the teamwork variable, and my argument was following the "startup" point of view, which is common here. Wasn't expecting down votes, however.

[drieddust]

"Public committing means a high level of responsibility and scrutiny, and it is the best motivator for any task."

Results is more explaining to many and less doing :)