“We trained them to do it. And when that didn’t work, we trained them again. They even passed the certification test,” complained Ryan. “But when they get back out on the floor, they go back to doing it the same old way. I just don’t understand.”

“So, you have focused all your attention on the time period prior to the behavior?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you train them, then they do it wrong?”

Ryan shook his head slowly. “Well, it’s not like they do it wrong immediately, but after a week or so, it’s like the training never happened.”

“What do you think is going on?”

“It’s like the training is wearing off.” Ryan had an exasperated look on his face.

“So, it takes about a week before the training wears off. What could you do differently during that week?”

This was painful. Ryan was hoping he could get away with a little classroom training and be done with it. “I suppose,” he paused. “I suppose we could watch them and see if they are doing it wrong and correct their behavior.”

“What if you watched them to see if they were doing it right and give them some appreciation?”

“What’s the difference?” Ryan asked. -TF