Performance, Effort, Meritocracy & Mediocrity

We what happens when we reward; whether it's through praise, recognition, opportunity, award, etc.  always results and absent effort? Same thing holds true in reverse. What are the unintended consequences on our audience that is excluded in the reward.It's not as simple as acknowledging everyone for their unique contributions. And, everyone is wired to respond differently to different types of rewards. When you really start to think about the ins and outs with all the different perspectives you can see how we end up in a mediocrity system too often.