Lesson Learned #6
Early in the company’s history we decided to be an implementation firm rather than a typical “consulting” firm. We did that because in order to sell anything we had to demonstrate a financial return for our services because nobody knew who we were and therefore weren’t inclined to pay us just for advice. That decision has had lasting implications in how we work and what we focus on, and in many ways has brought us closer to understanding how truly difficult it is to be a manager or to get people to change their behaviors. While we don’t pretend to be clinical experts in the study of behavior(1), we have learned from observation and repetition over twenty years a few things that may be helpful for managers when they have to deal with behavior change. One of the most important lessons we have learned is that you don’t change people’s behaviors by simply telling them to do something different, you have to change or re-shape the consequences that occur when they do things.
We think of behavior in three parts. There is some kind of directive or guideline, then there is the actual behavior, and finally there are consequences for doing what was directed (or for not doing what was directed). The consequences, positive or negative or neutral, reinforce whatever behavior was observed. To change someone’s behavior, you usually need to re-shape the environment and modify the consequences. Managers try to do this all the time, particularly with compensation arrangements and incentives. The trouble with relying on compensation to drive behavior is that it only really works if the person sees a direct correlation between the incentive reward and the behavior. The further the consequence is from the direct behavior, the less influence it has. Most smokers would probably quit if they knew the very next cigarette would actually kill them.
The other mistake is to assume that the person can in fact control the behavior. Often we find the environment causes people to do things. Someone completes a customer’s order by taking items that were planned for a later order. The negative consequences of missing the order are more immediate and certain than the future consequences of potentially missing a later order. The person who did the behavior may have no way of making sure all items are ready when they are needed. Even more confusing, the person may be celebrated for getting the order out on time, a positive reinforcement of the wrong behavior.
Of all the areas where we work, behavior is the hardest to analyze and change. It’s helpful if you take something somewhat nebulous like “behavior” and make it more specific. A behavior must be something you can count and measure, like a sales person cancelling meetings. A behavior can’t be vague like an attitude (e.g. being arrogant). If you can measure the behavior then you can study it and you can try to understand what drives the behavior (fortunately there are studies and techniques that are useful to do this – see side bar download). The key however is to focus on the consequences and see if you can modify the environment or the actual consequences themselves.
(1) For a more advanced discussion and analysis on human behavior you may wish to read “Science and Human Behavior” by B. F. Skinner.
