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+--- Thread: The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad (/thread-31304.html)
The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad - Henlus - 11-06-2025
Long ago in Delhi, during British colonial rule, officials faced a serious problem — too many deadly cobras slithering through the city.
To fix it, they came up with what seemed like a brilliant plan:
“We’ll pay for every dead cobra brought in.”
At first, it worked perfectly. People hunted snakes, and dead cobras poured in by the dozens. But then, human creativity kicked in.
Some clever locals began breeding cobras just to kill them and claim the reward 😂.
When the government discovered the scam, they scrapped the program.
But now, the breeders had no use for their snakes, so they released them. The result? More cobras than before.
That’s the Cobra Effect -- when a well-intentioned policy or incentive ends up making the problem worse.
It didn’t stop there. The same thing happened years later in French colonial Vietnam.
Authorities in Hanoi offered bounties for every dead rat to control an outbreak. People began cutting off rat tails to claim the reward. But instead of killing the rats, they let them go so they could breed more.
Before long, the city had a rat explosion 💥💥💥😂.
Another example comes from East Germany.
Factories were once rewarded based on how many nails they produced. So workers made tiny, useless nails by the thousands to hit their targets.
When officials changed the rule to pay by total weight instead, the workers made a few giant, heavy nails that nobody could use.
Either way, the metric was met _ but the goal was missed.
Even in modern times, the Cobra Effect is everywhere:
– Hospitals rewarded for short waiting times might start turning away complex cases that would slow them down.
– Schools rewarded for high exam scores might teach to the test instead of teaching real understanding.
– Social media companies rewarded for engagement ended up building systems that favor outrage and addiction over quality content.
Now imagine a hotel rewarding its staff for every positive guest review.
At first, it seems like a great idea as reviews skyrocket!
But soon, staff focus more on begging for reviews than on genuine service.
When the reward stops, so does the effort, and the culture of real hospitality fades.
The lesson:
Short-term carrots can breed long-term cobras.
Lasting success doesn’t come from dangling incentives. IT comes from values, pride, and purpose.
When people act out of integrity, not manipulation, good results take care of themselves.
RE: The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad - Techie Farmer - 11-07-2025
Very true. I see this even in workplaces today. Management sets targets to “motivate” people, but soon everyone starts cutting corners just to hit numbers. The goal becomes the reward, not the purpose behind it. In the end, quality suffers, trust drops, and the whole system collapses.
RE: The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad - SheFarm - 11-07-2025
I once read that something similar happened in China with sparrows. They killed millions of sparrows to protect crops, not realizing the birds also ate pests. The result? Locusts multiplied and destroyed the fields. Another perfect Cobra Effect!
RE: The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad - GreenVet - 11-07-2025
I like how you ended it with values and pride. That’s the real solution. When people take pride in their work, they don’t need to be bribed to do the right thing. Incentives fade, but integrity lasts.
RE: The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad - The Farmer - 11-08-2025
We see this in government programs too. Like when subsidies are introduced for farmers, but the middlemen hijack them and sell the products for profit. The poor people it was meant for never benefit. Another Cobra Effect in action.
RE: The Cobra Effect: When Good Incentives Go Bad - Farm-sultan - 11-08-2025
You know what’s funny? Even in farming this happens. When people are paid by weight, they sometimes water down produce to make it heavier. So instead of better quality, you get worse. The incentive ruins the product.