“Oh, it’s more than just a simple game with colored t-shirts,” I said. Travis was just beginning to understand the depth of the game. This was a system designed to positively reinforce desired behavior.

“Each new person on the loading dock gets teamed up with a buddy. What color shirt do you have to have before you can be assigned a buddy?”

Travis was remembering the meeting a couple of weeks before. “Before you get a buddy, you have to earn the blue shirt with the black trim. And whenever your buddy gets forklift certified, you get a ball cap with a patch on it. For every guy you get into a green shirt, you get another patch. Five patches and you get a dinner for two at Outback. Oh, and your wife gets a dozen red roses.”

“So, tell me, Travis, how hard is it get these guys on the loading dock to volunteer to train the newbies?” Travis smiled and nodded. -TF