Adrian Gostick

Each week we get notes from around the world, written by folks who are living the Carrot Principle. Here is a particular poignant story sent from Dr. Todd Hillyard.

“I’m a pediatric dentist who owns a practice in Vancouver, WA. Morale in my office had been waning, in large part because I was discouraged by the lack of attention to detail, processes and systems by my staff. Frustration with those issues leaked into my moods—my staff sure tells me when I’m being a grump! My wife came back from a recent conference and taught me the Carrot Principle after hearing a presentation by the authors. I thought it sounded fluffy and too obvious to really have an impact (admitted skeptic here). More to prove her wrong than anything, I made an effort to thank people more, focus on their positive actions, and compliment them the following day. When I reported to my wife that it didn’t seem to help, she asked what I had praised, why I had thanked, etc. I couldn’t really answer. We spent some time talking about what was important to my employees as individuals (rewards) and, even more time talking about WHAT I should be praising and how. I recognized that by praising—often publicly—specific actions that reinforce the values and behaviors we want in our office it really meant something to them.
“After a single day of this, I had two employees come back and thank me specifically for noticing and tell me how much what I said had meant to them. Other employees are taking note of those actions that elicited praise. Also, we’ve started a game in the office where employees can write compliments about each other when they see specific behaviors that are in line with what we have identified as our top priorities.
“To sum it up, I’m happier, my staff is happier, the kids (patients) are happier and we’re performing better. I like focusing on and looking for the good things. The ugly stuff that was consuming me doesn’t seem as dramatic and I certainly plan to keep it that way!“

In Mexico this weekend, all 176 professional soccer games will be played in empty stadiums, without fans, to stop the spread of swine flu. Not to make light of the pandemic, but these games will give us an interesting study into human behavior.

As background, whether or not a sports team wins an individual game depends largely on the caliber of players they are fielding that season. However research shows that over decades of performance, a home team will typically win 53 to 58 percent of their games, which means visiting teams win only 42 to 47 percent of the time. Home teams have several advantages: they sleep at home, eat food they are comfortable with, warm up in facilities that are familiar, and so on. But sports psychologists say the biggest advantage is this: a large number of people are cheering for them.
So will playing in front of empty stands take away the home-field advantage for the Mexican teams?
As we raise children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, we know that we must cheer wildly for every positive effort during their little league baseball, softball, soccer or football games. We clap with gusto at their school concerts and plays. And yet when a person gets to the workplace, we believe they get their cheering in their paychecks. Well, professional athletes earn a lot of money, yet they still win more games at home. Why? Because someone is applauding their efforts.
It’s a simple formula. Whether millionaire athletes or laborers on a production line—we all work harder when someone we respect is watching and appreciating our great work.

What percent of managers don’t recognize their employees? Would you guess 25 percent? What about 50?

Nope, a full 74 percent of leaders don’t recognize their employees for one reason or another. Some of these folks strongly believe that employees don’t need recognition—but are motivated only by pay. Some of them feel they don’t have time to recognize, while others are worried that jealousies will arise if they recognize one team member and not another. Not surprisingly, our research shows this group of managers have less productive teams than their recognizing peers.
Worst of all among those managers who don’t recognize is those who are actually negative about appreciation. One third of all managers fall into that category.
I’ve asked leadership groups if they know some of these managers, those who shouldn’t be allowed be allowed to play with other children. Many people laugh and heads start bobbing like oil wells on the Texas prairie.
These Negatives may have been great individual contributors, but that doesn’t mean we should allow them to lead others. The great organizations we work with promote not based on seniority, skills or education, but on a person’s aptitude to inspire their workforce.

Last Friday Chester Elton and I spoke to the International Association of Speakers Bureaus—a group that helps meeting planners find the right content and presenters for their conferences.
After we finished speaking, Wolf Blitzer of CNN took the stage to interview speaking industry legend Don Walker, CEO of the Harry Walker Agency in NYC.

As background, Don’s 60-year-old agency is number one—representing such figures as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bono, Freakonomics authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, and other household names. After listening to Don for about three minutes, I grabbed a Fairmont Hotel pad and started scribbling notes. What he had to say was that good.
Don believes his industry is in the “marketplace of ideas.” And when is the need greater for the free-flow of thoughts and innovation than during a downturn in the economy? He said this meltdown might just make our businesses stronger in the end; yet he recalled the words of Winston Churchill, who after being told that losing an election might be a blessing in disguise, muttered, “Well, it’s well disguised.”
Don stressed the importance of working together with competitors to climb out of the morass, to continue attending association meetings and conferences to share best practices. He punctuated this point with an African saying, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Finally, Don reminded us that continuing education will help us become experts in our respective fields. “You don’t know who’s swimming naked until the tide goes out,” he quipped. And right now, the tide is out. The economy is clearing the beach of pretenders. Only those who are serious about their crafts will remain behind.
The moral of Don’s message is this: Don’t abandon your friends. Attend your industry meetings, conventions and education sessions. Be an active part of the marketplace of ideas and you just might thrive.

Our friends Harry Paul (co-author of Fish!) and Ross Reck (of Revved!) share some great insights in their new book, Instant Turnaround. Their finding is that people regulate their effort based on how well they believe they are being treated at work. We can corroborate that with our research for the second edition of The Carrot Principle. We found globally that a sense of “well-being” at work was on the top two drivers of employee engagement. In other words, when employees believe their manager and company cares about them, they’ll put in more discretionary effort—which is exactly what you need in this economy.

Harry and Ross say that you can tell if you are using fear as a motivator—which is actually de-motivating in the long term. Ask yourself these four questions:

1. Do my employees look like they are glad to see me?
2. Do my employees smile most of the time?
3. Do my employees eagerly make eye contact with me?
4. Do I feel my employees have my best interests at heart?

If you answer no to one or more of these questions, it means you are using fear as a motivator. And that means your department is underachieving, which is costing you on your performance review.
Instant Turnaround is a fun, quick read—great for an airplane ride—and will give you plenty of fuel to keep you motivating in these difficult times.

Chester Elton and I felt good enough about the book to give it a nice endorsement on the back.

Update:Check out the video Harry and Ross produced to promote the book.