“But, I give them feedback,” protested Tyler. “They know how to do it right. Why won’t they just do it the way they are supposed to?”
“You want your team members to work the line in a specific sequence in a specific way? You are looking for very specific behaviors?” Tyler nodded his head in agreement.
“When they do it wrong, do you pay attention to them?” I asked.
“Of course. I am usually right on it,” Tyler replied.
“And when they do it right, are you right on it?”
“Well, when they do it right, they just do it right. When they do it right, I don’t yell at them.”
“Tyler, to get desired behaviors, you have to reinforce those behaviors in a positive way. Yelling at people for doing something wrong doesn’t teach them to do it right. Yelling just creates avoidance from doing it wrong. That avoidance behavior can by very erratic and unpredictable. They don’t know whether to scream or eat a banana.
“On the other hand, if you positively reinforce desired behavior, it becomes repeated and predictable.
“So, Tyler, you tell me. What has more value, erratic avoidance behavior or positively reinforced predictable behavior?” -TF
This is so true. Catching people doing things right allows you to say great job on something specific. A non-specific “good job” does not carry a lot of weight.
Brandon,
Thank you for pointing out that specificity carries weight. As we explore the ideas surrounding positive reinforcement over the next few days, we will discover the correlation between impact and meaning. Specificity has a great deal to do with that.
Yelling adds unnecessary stress which creates a negative environment. Learning, productivity, and creativity grow in a positive environment.