Have you ever tried to catch people doing something right? We have principals that do this; they reward
students for behaving appropriately.
Adults need praise, too.
Today, everyone should try a one minute praising. One minute
praisings include:
The first half-minute
- Praise people as soon as possible.
- Let people know that they did right and be specific.
- Tell people how good you feel about what they did right, and how it helps.
Pause
- Pause for a moment and allow people time to feel good about what they have done.
The second half-minute
- Encourage them to do more of the same.
- Make it clear you have confidence in them and support their success.
Why do one minute praisings work? Let’s consider a very simple
example. A child does not learn to walk straight away. When you teach a child
to walk, you don’t expect him to start walking as soon as he stands up. He
first toddles, and then he tries to stand up and falls in the first few attempts.
Then he wobbles a few steps and you cuddle him and hug him, making him feel
that he has done something worth praising. He then tries to do more of the same
and finally learns to walk. In the same way, one minute praisings is a way of
encouraging your staff/colleagues/students.
One minute praisings show that you are genuinely interested
in your people and care for them and their success. One minute praisings aim at
catching people ‘doing something right’ rather than catching them ‘doing
something wrong’ like most other organizations. Although the two might seem to
be the same thing, there is a lot of difference. If you emphasize on catching
people doing something wrong, their main aim is simply to do no wrong, not
necessarily go above and beyond and produce great results. This produces
mediocrity because everyone will tend to walk the middle line. For exceptional
results, we need our people to put in their best.
I hope you all give and receive a "Caught being Good Award" today.
