Manage by Tracking Progress

Positive feedback is so much better than destructive criticism.

Photo by goldenfish2010 Flickr CC

Train yourself with positive feedback

Everything from circus bears and goldfish to you yourself can be effectively trained by positive feedback. Did you know that the current champion goldfish masters 17 games?

The way it is done is by giving yourself a small reward at every step on the way, slowly building up the whole sequence of events. For example a bear that plays basketball, when he turns towards the hoop he gets a small reward. Later when he touches the ball he gets a reward, then when he pushes the ball towards the hoop - a new reward, etc. Little by little, by positive reinforcement they learn to do the most amazing tricks. You can use the same technique on yourself and those you manage.

Snapshots of positive experiences

Everyone has a bad day, something goes bad and you feel worthless. Imagine that you had a file with some notes of your daily small victories, just opening your file with positive snapshots you would start to feel better - a little bit like the goldfish making a move in the right direction and getting a small tidbit, a positive reward.

Now imagine that your manager asked you to share your positive snapshots, wouldn't that be more fulfilling than looking for weak areas and establishing corrective action? If you are managing others, why not use the same principles as a group. By now someone is sure to say, wait a minute! We're not circus animals, this is offending! And they would be right of course, still this is the way a good sports coach work, and most other coaches for that matter.

A positive experience is something taking you closer to the goal

If you know your goals and values, and if they are in the same directions as the company's, then what is good for you is also good for the people around you.

Personally I keep a daily journal that I call my victory list, I also recommend it to anyone with a quest or a purpose. It keeps me motivated and boost my confidence. I also feel very good when I manage to boost the confidence and motivation of those working with me - to me it is one of the success factors of Open Management.

Finding the keys to success

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:

Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.

By reinforcing positive action, by making clear the positive consequences of a what was just done, by identifying the keys to success that brings both the individual and the company forward towards common goals can't be bad. 

Over to you, do you think this is to touchy feely or manipulative? Do you think Grizzly bears can be trained this way?