Baseball started its season last week to great enthusiasm. So what can we learn from the excitement fans feel this time of year?

On opening day everybody feels like they have a chance. Fans, coaches and players all believe that their goal of winning a championship is doable and that feeling of optimism is a powerful motivator.

What can program planners learn from this? Behavioral economics teaches us that people are more motivated to pursue achievements that we feel are within our grasp. Organizations that leverage this human reality and present objectives in incremental hurdles get the most effort from their employees and salespeople. Conversely, companies that make goals too complicated, difficult or long term fail to capture the enthusiasm of their participants. They fail to get buy-in and their employees or salespeople don’t play ball.

The optimism of opening day can teach employee recognition and sales incentive planners a few things about excitement. When you put together your rules structure consider the power setting and then resetting goals can have. Make objectives attainable. This will keep your participant reaching for the next level and in the context of baseball it will keep your program from striking out.