Praise Every Improvement
Why don't we use the same common sense when trying to change people that we use when trying to change dogs? Animal trainers have used this technique for centuries: praise even the slightest improvement. That inspires the other person to keep on improving.
Praise is like sunlight to the warm human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. And yet, while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellow the warm sunshine of praise. — Jess Lair, psychologist
Abilities wither under criticism; they blossom under encouragement.
Pete Barlow's Dogs
Pete Barlow ran a dog-and-pony act. The moment a dog showed the slightest improvement, Pete patted and praised him and gave him dog biscuits and made a great to-do about it. That's nothing new — animal trainers have done this for centuries. The question is why we don't do it with people.
Charles Dickens
A young man in London aspired to be a writer. He'd had only four years of school. His father was in jail for debt. He pasted labels on bottles in a rat-infested warehouse, slept in a dismal attic room with two other boys. He had so little confidence that he mailed his first manuscript in the dead of night so nobody would laugh at him. Story after story was refused. Finally one was accepted. He wasn't paid a shilling. But one editor praised him. He was so thrilled he wandered aimlessly around the streets with tears rolling down his cheeks.
The praise, the recognition — it changed his whole life. If it hadn't been for that encouragement, he might have spent his entire life working in rat-infested factories. His name was Charles Dickens.
Enrico Caruso
A boy of ten working in a factory in Naples longed to be a singer. His first teacher discouraged him: "You can't sing. You haven't any voice at all. It sounds like the wind in the shutters."
His mother, a poor peasant woman, put her arms about him and praised him and told him she knew he could sing, she could already see an improvement, and she went barefoot in order to save money for his music lessons.
That peasant mother's praise and encouragement changed that boy's life. His name was Enrico Caruso.
H. G. Wells
A boy clerked in a dry-goods store in London — fourteen hours a day of sheer drudgery. He despised it. After two years, frantic and despairing, he wrote to his old schoolmaster. His schoolmaster gave him a little praise, assured him he was really intelligent and fitted for finer things, and offered him a job as a teacher.
That praise changed the future of the boy and made a lasting impression on the history of English literature. That boy went on to write innumerable best-selling books. His name: H. G. Wells.
B. F. Skinner's Science
Use of praise instead of criticism is the basic concept of B. F. Skinner's teachings. This great psychologist showed by experiments with animals and with humans that when criticism is minimized and praise emphasized, the good things people do will be reinforced and the poorer things will atrophy for lack of attention.
Keith Roper and the Printer
A new employee at Roper's print shop had been having difficulty adjusting and was about to be terminated for a "negative attitude." Roper personally went over, told the young man how pleased he was with the work he'd just received, and pointed out it was the best work he'd seen produced in that shop for some time. He pointed out exactly why it was superior and how important the young man's contribution was to the company.
Within days: a complete turnabout. The young man told several coworkers about it. From that day on, he was a loyal and dedicated worker.
What Roper did was not flattery — he specifically pointed out how his work was superior. Because he singled out a specific accomplishment rather than just making general remarks, his praise became much more meaningful. Everybody likes to be praised, but when praise is specific, it comes across as sincere — not something said just to manipulate.
William James
"Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources. The human individual thus lives far within his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts that he habitually fails to use."
One of those powers you are probably not using to the fullest extent is your magic ability to praise people and inspire them with a realization of their latent possibilities.
Connections
- give-honest-and-sincere-appreciation — the foundational Part 2 principle; praise every improvement is the leadership application: not one-time appreciation but ongoing, specific, immediate reinforcement of growth
- give-fine-reputation — a reputation to live up to is the next step: after praising improvement, assign the person the identity of someone who succeeds; the two principles sequence naturally
- criticism-is-futile — the scientific backing: Skinner's research confirms that criticism produces less learning than reward; this is the positive-reinforcement alternative