The carrot and the stick.

Have you heard this expression before?

In Japanese you'd say: 飴と鞭 (あめとむち). It means that if someone does well or what you want, you reward them (the carrot) and if they don't do well or don't do what you want, you punish them (the stick). Like this:

from http://www.verus-co2.com/blog/?p=836

So if the donkey moves faster it can eat the carrot (reward) but if it slows down it will get hit with the stick (punishment).

I use the carrot and the stick in class. Good students get prizes and students who misbehave get kicked out of class.

A: You should try a carrot and stick approach.

B: Huh?

A: You know, if your daughter does well in school you treat her to ice cream at Haagen-Daaz. If she does OK she gets nothing and, if she does badly she gets no dessert for a week!

B: Yeah, that might work! She loves sweets.

Enjoy your week,

Phil