Back in 1914, Ford Motor Company made waves by announcing a $5-a-day wage policy—absolutely wild for the time, since it more than doubled what competitors were paying.

Why the bold move? Simple: the factory was bleeding workers faster than they could train them, and productivity was tanking. But here's what happened next: turnover plummeted, workers actually showed up, efficiency shot up. It wasn't charity—it was cold calculation. Better-paid employees meant lower hiring costs, better output, and a more stable operation.

The lesson stuck around for over a century. When you align incentives properly, people respond. Whether it's factory workers in the 1900s or token holders in Web3 ecosystems today, the principle holds: compensation structures don't just affect individuals—they reshape entire systems.