Offer inventors a cash bonus, and you get more inventions? Research summarized in the September–October Harvard Business Review suggests the answer depends on who receives the money.

The study followed inventors at publicly listed Chinese firms, year by year. When reward programs were in place, two groups reacted differently. Specialists, who work in one narrow technical field, produced fewer inventions, and the ones they produced were more original and more important. Generalists, who work across fields, simply produced more.

In the article's words: "The effectiveness of an incentive program depends not only on how it is designed but also on who receives it."

The finding fits a long line of research on motivation. Back in 1968, Frederick Herzberg wrote in HBR that pay can change what people do without changing what drives them. Self-determination theory adds that real inner motivation grows when people feel free, capable and connected to others. A 2025 study with samples from Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. found these three needs to be close to a precondition for it.

Seen that way, the same bonus can mean different things. For a specialist it may feel like permission to take on the harder problem. For a generalist it may feel like a signal to produce more. The reward works through what people already care about.

We have looked at the value of breadth before (Range – David Epstein), and at what pay can do for motivation (Drive – Daniel Pink).

The study comes from one country and one kind of reward. Seeing the pattern tested in other settings would be a valuable next step.

Talent Takeaway

Before you design a reward, look at your people. Ask what kind of work each group does best and what the reward will say to them. The same budget can buy more ideas or deeper ones, depending on who gets it.

Read the original at Harvard Business Review

Sources

Szpilman, D. (2026). Why cash rewards don't always produce better ideas. Harvard Business Review, September–October 2026. https://hbr.org/2026/09/why-cash-rewards-dont-always-produce-better-ideas

Ding, H., et al. (2025). Exploring the necessary roles of basic psychological needs at work: A necessary condition analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.70012

Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2003/01/one-more-time-how-do-you-motivate-employees