From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I was curious about a study in IT that showed that while managers can see underperformance, they can’t see who is over-performing.

Response:

Actually, the results of the study may be correct, however, the conclusion may be flawed.

The results show that managers easily recognize or identify underperformance, but they do not as easily recognize or identify over-performance. The conclusion is that managers do not have the ability to recognize over-performance. I believe that to be false.

Managers do not recognize or identify over-performance because they do not focus on it. Managers allow the distractions of underperformance to dominate their vision and efforts.

It is simply a matter of focus. It is a conscious choice to focus on over-performance, and once that decision is made, the focus becomes quite natural. But it’s that choice that is difficult. It is too easy (unconscious) to see things wrong and too difficult to make the conscious choice to see things going right. -TF

This question was in response to the study that showed larger improvements from high performing team members than lower performing team members as a result of positive reinforcement.

Question:

Is this because the high performers were actually severely underemployed or because they were more talented or some other reason?

Response:

I am certain there were many individual reasons for the dramatic uplift in performance. The point of the story is that, often, we, as managers, spend time with our problem team members instead of our high performing team members.

And when we spend time with our poor performers, it drags us away from positive reinforcement toward negative or punitive reinforcement. Between the two types of reinforcement, positive and negative, which is more likely to bring out the best in people? -TF

Jamie met me in the break room, where I was trying to make an executive decision between the hazelnut or European blend coffees.

“I have been thinking about what you said,” Jamie started. We had been discussing how teenagers can sit for hours in front of a computer game, maintain an aggressive level of interest, solve complex problems and achieve a high level of achievement, without the traditional elements of motivation we think about at work.

“At first, I thought about how I could make work more like a game,” she said, “but I stopped, because work isn’t a game. It is real, with real accountabilities and real consequences. And that is when it hit me.

“As a manager, I try to do all this up-front stuff trying to get my team motivated to get the work done. But it’s not the stuff I do up-front. It’s more in the consequences. I need to focus more on the consequences. I need to focus more on what happens after the behavior, than what happens before the behavior.

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like noticing that they show up on time. Making a fuss about their work area when it is straight and orderly. Celebrating the small successes in the day, when we get an order out the door. Making progress visible as we work through the day. Having the team do some of their own quality inspections and taking corrective action before the QC department gets involved. Making sure we take note when we hit certain levels of competence. And recognizing the big stuff when we master it.”

“What do you think the big difference is?” I asked.

“All the stuff we do before is external. It’s outside the person. The stuff we do after, works internal, it works inside the person.”

Jamie was quiet for a minute. Then, she slowly repeated herself. “In the mind of my son, he is part of something bigger than himself, trying to achieve certain levels in the game. As he makes progress, he gets real-time feedback (automatically), so he can adjust his play. When he makes the level, there is a small electronic celebration on the screen.”

“And, how does your son feel about himself when he is playing this computer game?” I asked.

“It must feel good. As silly as it may seem, he has a sense of accomplishment.”

“Is there any time when he feels frustrated or challenged?”

“Oh, yes, sometimes he won’t even come down for dinner, because he is working through something so intently. He has to try and try and try until he finally gets it.”

“And then he comes to dinner?”

Jamie smiled. “Yes, then he comes to dinner. He says it’s okay, now. He has reached a certain level in the game and he can take a breather. Sometimes, he will stay away from the game for a couple of days.”

“Jamie, I want you to think about your son and his motivation and see how you could apply that at work, with your team. I want you to think about challenge, real time feedback, personal control and correction, achievement of goals, competence and mastery. Let’s meet tomorrow and talk about your ideas.” -TF

“What is it that this game has, that is so attractive to your son, that he will go without food, water and sleep, in spite of discouragement from his mom (manager)?” I asked. Her son had achieved a high level of competence in this video game without the traditional trappings of learning, without the traditional trappings of inducement. Yet he continues to play hard.

“Well, for one thing, it must be fun, it’s play, not work,” Jamie explained.

“And, as a manager, what can we take from that, when we think about our teams and their behavior?”

“Yes, but work isn’t all that much fun,” Jamie protested. “People don’t like work. They like play, but they don’t like work.”

“Jamie, I have looked at your son playing a video game and it doesn’t look all that different than what some of your people do at work. They both sit at a keyboard, staring at a computer screen. As they touch the keys, things move on the screen.”

“I don’t see your comparison, they are two different things.”

“But if you could see the comparison, what would you see?”

Jamie had to think, but she finally spoke. “In the mind of my son, he is part of something bigger than himself, trying to achieve certain levels in the game. As he makes progress, he gets real-time feedback (automatically), so he can adjust his play. When he makes the level, there is a small electronic celebration on the screen.”