چرا سرزنش های یک دقیقه ای موثرند

Why One Minute Re-Directs Work

THE Manager explained, “There are several reasons why One Minute Re-Directs work so well.

“To begin with, the feedback happens in small doses, because you catch the mistake early on.

“Many managers gunnysack their feedback. That is, they store up observations of poor behavior until frustration builds.

“When performance review time comes, these managers are angry in general because their sack is really full. So they charge in and dump it all at one time.

“They tell people every single thing they have done wrong for the last several weeks or months or more.

“It’s not fair to people to save up negative feelings about their poor performance, and it’s not effective.” The young man breathed a deep sigh. “So true. And that often happens at home, too.” “Yes, some parents and spouses do that, too, and they get the same poor results.

“What happens then is people usually end up disagreeing about the facts, or they simply keep quiet and become resentful. Often, the person receiving the feedback becomes defensive. They don’t own what they have done wrong.

“This is another version of the leave-alone-zap way of communicating.

“If managers would address things earlier, they could deal with one behavior at a time and the person would not be overwhelmed. They’d be more likely to hear the feedback the way it was intended. That’s why I think performance review should be an ongoing process, not something you do only once a year.” “So is that why the Re-Direct works? Because the manager deals fairly and clearly with one behavior at a time, so the person receiving the feedback can hear it?” “Yes. You want to get rid of the bad behavior but keep the good person, so you don’t attack the person just because they’ve made a mistake.” “Is that why you make it a point to praise people in the second half of the Re-Direct?” “Yes. The goal is not to tear people down, but to build them up.

“When our self-concept is under attack, we feel a need to defend ourselves and our actions, even to the extent of distorting the facts. When people become defensive, they don’t learn.

“So you want to separate their behavior from their worth. Reaffirming them after you’ve addressed the mistake focuses on their behavior without attacking them personally.

“When you walk away, you want the person aware of and concerned about what they did, instead of turning to a coworker and talking about how they were mistreated or what they think of your leadership style.

“Otherwise, the person takes no responsibility for the mistake and the manager becomes the villain.” The young man asked, “Why wouldn’t you give the Praising part of the Re-Direct first and then the critique?” “For some reason, it just doesn’t work that way. Some people, now that I think of it, say that I am nice and tough as a manager. But to be more accurate, I’m actually tough and nice.” “Tough and nice?” echoed the young man.

“Yes. In that order. This is an old philosophy that has worked well for literally thousands of years. There’s a story from ancient China that illustrates this.

“Once upon a time, an emperor appointed a second-in-command. He called him the prime minister and, in effect, said to him, ‘Why don’t we divide up the tasks? Why don’t you do all the punishing and I’ll do all the rewarding?’ The prime minister said, ‘Fine. I’ll do all the punishing and you do all the rewarding.’” “I think I’m going to like this story,” the young man said.

“You will,” the Manager said with a knowing smile.

“Now, this emperor soon noticed that whenever he asked someone to do something, they might do it or they might not do it. However, when the prime minister spoke, people moved.

“So the emperor called the prime minister back in and said, ‘Why don’t we divide the tasks again? You have been doing all the punishing here for quite a while. Now let me do the punishing and you do the rewarding.’ So the prime minister and the emperor switched roles.

“Within a month there was a revolt. The emperor had been a nice person, rewarding and being kind to everyone; then he started to punish people. People said, ‘What’s wrong with that old codger?’ and they threw him out on his ear.

“When they came to look for a replacement, they said, ‘You know who’s really starting to come around now? The prime minister.’ So they made him emperor.” “Is that a true story?” the young man asked.

“Who knows?” the Manager said with a laugh. “Seriously,” he added, “I do know this: if you are first tough on the behavior, and then supportive of the person, it works better.” “Do you have any modern-day examples of where a One Minute Re-Direct has worked, maybe outside the business world?” “Sure. Athletic coaches all over the country use the equivalent of a Re-Direct to improve their athletes’ performances. For example, a well-known college basketball coach told me he uses it to create championship teams.” “How so?”

“He told me about a time when his best player was playing so poorly in an important game that unless he quickly improved his game, the team would probably lose. So he took this player out of the game and had him sit on the bench.” “His best player?” asked the young man.

“How could he afford to take him out of an important game?”

“He couldn’t afford not to. Unless the player played his A game, the team wasn’t going to win and would miss competing in the championship.

“So as the player sat on the bench, this coach told him exactly what he was doing wrong. ‘You’re missing easy shots, you’re not grabbing any rebounds, and you’re loafing on defense. I’m angry with you because you don’t look like you’re even trying!’ “He waited a moment, then added, ‘You’re better than that. You need to sit on the bench until you’re ready to play the way you’re capable of.’ “After what seemed like forever, the player stood up, went over to the coach, and said, ‘I’m ready to go in, Coach.’ “The coach responded, ‘Then get back in there and show me what you can do.’ “When the player got back in, he was all over the court, diving for loose balls, grabbing rebounds, and making his usual shots. Thanks to his effort, the rest of the team also improved their play and they won the game.” “So basically,” the young man said, “the coach did the three things that Jon Levy told me about earlier: tell people what they did wrong; tell them how you feel about it; and remind them they are better than that.

“In other words, their performance is bad, but they are good.”

“Precisely. You see, it is very important when you are leading people to remember that behavior and worth are not the same things. What is really worthwhile is the person who’s managing their own behavior.

“It applies equally to us when we’re managing our own behavior.

“In fact, if you realize this,” the Manager said as he brought up another screen on his computer, “you will know the key to providing a really successful Re-Direct.”

We Are Not Just Our Behavior. We Are The Person Managing Our Behavior.

The young man said, “It sounds like there’s respect and caring behind a Re-Direct.”

“I’m glad you noticed that, young man. You’ll be more successful when you respect the individual you’re re-directing.”

The young man was hesitant to ask the next question. “While One Minute Praisings and One Minute Re-Directs are effective, could they be seen as ways to manipulate people and get them to do what you want?”

“That’s a great question. Manipulation involves deceptively controlling people for your own advantage. If you’re trying to manipulate people, you’re doing a poor job, and it will come back to bite you.

“Your job is to show people how to manage themselves and enjoy it. You want them to succeed when you’re not around.

“That is why it is so important to let people know up front what you are doing and why.

“It’s like anything else in life. There are things that work and things that don’t work. Being honest with people works better. As you may have noticed, being dishonest eventually leads to failing with people.”

“I can see now,” the young man said, “where the power of your management style comes from—you care about people.”

“Yes, I do. And I also care about results!”

The young man was beginning to see more clearly how closely related people and results were.

He remembered how gruff he thought this special Manager was when he first met him.

It was as though the Manager could read his mind. “Sometimes,” he said, “you have to care enough to be tough—that is, tough on the poor performance but not on the person.

“As you undoubtedly know, making mistakes is not the problem. It’s not learning from them that causes real problems.”

The young man asked, “What happens when a person keeps making similar mistakes, after you’ve already provided them with a Re-Direct?”

“Well, let me ask you, how do you think a manager feels when that happens?”

“Probably unhappy, annoyed, or even angry.”

“Yes. That’s when you need to take a break and calmly look at the situation, so your emotions don’t cause you to make a mistake.

“A One Minute Re-Direct is intended to help people learn. However, when a person has learned something and has shown they can do it, but they have a won’t do attitude, you need to look at the cost to the organization, and whether you can afford to keep such a person on the team.”

That made sense to the young man.

By now he had grown to like the New One Minute Manager, and knew why people enjoyed working there. They worked with him, not for him.

The young man said, “Maybe you would find this interesting. I wrote this to remind me of how goals and consequences are related and how One Minute Goals, Praisings, and Re-Directs work together.” He showed him a page from his notes:

Goals Begin Behaviors.

Consequences Influence Future Behaviors.

“That’s good!” the Manager said.

“Do you think so?” the young man asked, wanting to hear the compliment again.

“Young man,” the Manager said lightheartedly, “it is not my role in life to be a human tape recorder. I do not have time to repeat myself.” Just when the young man thought he might be praised again, he felt he was in for another One Minute Re-Direct.

But the bright young man kept a straight face and said simply, “What?” They looked at each other for a moment and then both broke into laughter.

“I like you, young man,” the Manager said. “How would you like to work here?” The young man stared in amazement. “You mean work for you?” he asked enthusiastically.

“No. I mean work for yourself, like the other people on our team. I don’t believe anybody ever really works for anybody else. Deep down, people like to work for themselves.

“The people on our team work as partners and together we look for ways to improve. I do my best to help them work better, and in the process we all enjoy our work and lives more. And we’re a great benefit to our organization.” This was, of course, what the young man had been looking for all along.

“I’d love to work here,” he said.

And so he did.

Over time, he benefited greatly from working with such an innovative manager.

And eventually, the inevitable happened.