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Editor: Dr. Wolf J. Rinke
Publisher: Wolf Rinke Associates, Inc.
(c) 2011 Wolf J. Rinke
Vol. 14 No. 5, October-November 2011
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Welcome to 14 years of helping managers like YOU achieve
dramatic improvements in performance, productivity and profitability.
Feel free to forward this eNewsletter to others.
To get your own FREE subscription click on the link above.
IN THIS ISSUE
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
2. HOW TO FIX A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM
3. COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION: A NEW WAY TO MOTIVATE TEAM MEMBERS
4. AN INEXPENSIVE UNIQUE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAL FOR TEAM MEMBERS
5. HUMOR BREAK
6. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
7. ABOUT THE EDITOR
8. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
REALITY CHECK
"We are more cooperative and less selfish than most people believe."
--Yochai Benkler
1. NEWS YOU CAN USE
TRADITIONAL REWARD PROGRAMS MAY BE WORKING AGAINST YOU
A variety of studies show that people are far more cooperative and much
less selfish than has previously been assumed. Recent experiments have
shown that about 50% of all people tend to behave cooperatively, some
even if it's at their own expense; 20% cooperate inconsistently, and
30% tend to behave selfishly. That means that traditional reward programs
are structured to appeal to only about 30% of your team members, and
may lead to lower productivity.
ACTION STEP
Re-structure your reward program so that it harnesses intrinsic motivation
and self-directed cooperative behavior, which is facilitated by building
systems based on a sense of common purpose and engagement. For how to
do this read the article below and/or read or listen to "Winning
Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies for Building High-Performance Organizations,"
available at http://wolfrinke.com/wmbook.html.
Source: Y. Benkler, "The Unselfish Gene," Harvard Bus Rev.,
87 (7/8), 2011, pp. 77-85.
2. HOW TO FIX A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM
Lack of engagement reducing performance and productivity?
Contact me. In over 30 years of consulting I have developed a unique
and fail-safe conflict resolution process that in one day will get your
leadership or other team back in working order. Differences will have
been worked out and the team will walk away with written commitments
that will be used by team members to hold each other accountable. As
a result of this intervention, participants buy into a new reality which
enables them to take team performance to the next level.
For details go to http://wolfrinke.com/conflict.htm or contact us at
800-828-9653 (USA) or 410-531-9280.
Two high value team members unable to work together? I can help. For
details go to http://wolfrinke.com/conflict2.htm.
3. COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION: A NEW WAY TO MOTIVATE TEAM MEMBERS
We've been operating under the assumption that human beings are selfish.
That's why traditional reward programs tend to rely on monetary incentives,
rewards and punishments to motivate team members. And even though the
concept of universal selfishness is not entirely incorrect (it applies
to about 30%-see paragraph #1 above) recent evidence from a wide variety
of disciplines such as psychology, evolutionary biology, economics,
political science and sociology provides solid evidence that people
are far more cooperative and much less selfish than we've previously
assumed. In fact researchers have discovered neural and possibly even
genetic evidence that people are predisposed to cooperate, one reason
is that a reward circuit is triggered in our brain when we cooperate.
In other words cooperating with others makes many people feel good and
hence provides us with an internal "reward." Here are 10 strategies
to stimulate internal motivation through cooperation and collaboration:
1. Stimulate internal motivation
Want cooperation and collaboration? Forget money. In fact forget external
rewards-well not quite. (See the end of this article.) There is however,
something far more powerful, far more consistent and much easier to
implement-internal motivation. Which comes about when team members have
something to be passionate about and when you have built a positive
organizational culture, a culture based on a sense of common purpose
and engagement.
2. Have a clearly defined and widely understood organizational philosophy
A philosophy consists of a concise mission, vision and core values that
team members have bought into and internalized. The organization's mission
and vision provide team members with a common purpose and a clear sense
of direction. Values define what are the right and ethical things to
do around here. Discussing, explaining and reinforcing these over and
over again, especially through the use of stories, will increase the
probability that people behave that way.
3. Trust all of the people all of the time until they prove you wrong.
Trust is an essential building block for building cooperative systems.
Without trust there are no relationships and without relationships there
are is no team work. Trust is built on the old adage "if you want
more of something you have to give it first." So go ahead and start
from a basis of trust, and only revise it if people provide you with
consistent contrary evidence.
4. Tell people more than they want to know.
Communication is the lubricant that makes cooperation and collaboration
possible. So get in the habit to tell people more than they want to
know and also be sure to use many different media so that you reach
all of the Generations on your team. And remember that at least some
of that communication must be done face to face, because research with
virtual teams has demonstrated that virtual communication alone will
not build trust, the basic building block of cooperation.
5. Give more of what you want.
As mentioned above, if you want more of something you have to give it
first. Even though about 50% of all people tend to behave cooperatively,
some of those cooperate conditionally, meaning that they tend to give
back whatever they get. So if you want more trust from your team members
you have to trust them more, if you want more kindness you have to be
kinder … and the list goes on.
6. Be empathetic and supportive.
The more empathy we feel with others the more we want to support and
cooperate with them. That's why when you build a team you want to provide
lots of opportunities for team members to get to know each other both
on a professional and personal level. Can't afford social events? Think
again! They have a very high ROI.
7. Be fair.
Team members want to be treated fairly, and want to get a fair share
of the benefits derived from cooperating. (That does not mean you have
to treat everyone equally.) Organizational values and norms typically
dictate what is fair around here. And if someone deviates too far from
the norm, other team members may "punish" him/her even if
it is at their own expense.
8. Be transparent.
Achieving cooperation and collaboration requires transparency. (It goes
hand in hand with telling people more than they want to know.) Being
transparent is supported by an absolute truism: There are no secrets
in organizations! Please read that again, because I can't even begin
to tell you how many leaders all over the world haven't figured this
out. They keep spending an inordinate amount of energy trying to keep
organizational stuff secret. Why bother? It can't be done anyway, and
certainly won't support collaboration.
9. Make work fun.
One of my favorite phrases is: "If it's fun it gets done."
And since neuroscience has found that cooperating with others triggers
a reward circuit in our brain we should do all we can to find people
who consider what we do (work) fun, and then build a socially and intellectually
rewarding organizational structure where cooperation and collaboration
is valued and rewarded.
10. Build in lots of variety.
A professor of mine was fond of telling us: "Different strokes
for different folks" which applies to building systems to support
cooperation and coordination. After all current research demonstrates
that we are motivated by different things. (About 50% of all people
tend to behave cooperatively, 20% cooperate inconsistently, and 30%
tend to behave selfishly, i.e. they are motivated by "what's in
it for me.") That means that traditional reward and punishment
programs may be effective in motivating the latter 30% of our team members-or
does it? (See the next paragraph.)
What about traditional reward and punishment programs?
Even though traditional reward and punishment systems are in common
use today they may be counterproductive because monetary incentives
can crowd out intrinsic motivations achieved by cooperating. As evidence
Benkler cited a study in Sweden which noted that voluntary blood donations
went down when participants were offered payments, but went back up
again when participants' money was donated to a worthy cause.
The bottom line.
Instead of solely relying on material payoffs it might be far more effective
and productive to stimulate internal motivation by providing team members
with something to be passionate about, supported by a positive organizational
culture built on a sense of common purpose and engagement, and a socially
and intellectually rewarding organizational structure where cooperation
and collaboration is valued and rewarded.
SOURCE: For details about the science of cooperation read Y. Benkler,
"The Penguin and Leviathan: How Cooperation Triumphs over Self-Interest,"
Crown Business, 2011. For specific implementation strategies read or
listen to "Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies for Building
High-Performance Organizations," available at http://wolfrinke.com/wmbook.html
and/or "Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian
Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness," available at http://www.wolfrinke.com/squeakywheel.html.
The latter two are also available as CPE programs at www.easyCPEcredits.com.
4. AN INEXPENSIVE UNIQUE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAL FOR TEAM MEMBERS
I'd like to help you save money during these tough times and make your
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It's my Make It a Winning Life Perpetual Desk Calendar
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Click here to order or call 800-828-9653.
5. HUMOR BREAK
Quotes from actual employee performance evaluations:
--"Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, he only gargled."
--"It takes him two hours to watch 60 minutes."
--"The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead."
6. HEAR WOLF HOWL--I MEAN SPEAK
Oct 24, 2011 "Increasing Your Personal Leadership Effectiveness",
Renaissance Woodbridge, Iselin, NJ. This full day seminar may be open
to you if your company is a member of the Institute of Management Studies
(IMS). Contact Ken Verostick, newjersey@ims-online.com for specifics.
7. ABOUT THE EDITOR
Dr. Wolf J. Rinke, CSP is a highly effective management consultant and
executive coach who specializes in building peak performance organizations,
teams and individuals. He is the author of 14 books including "Don't
Oil the Squeaky Wheel and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership
Effectiveness" and "Winning Management: 6 Fail-Safe Strategies
for Building High-Performance Organizations" available at www.WolfRinke.com.
Wolf is also an internationally recognized management/leadership keynote
speaker and seminar leader who delivers customized presentations that
combine story telling, humor and motivation with specific "how
to" action strategies that participants can apply immediately to
improve their management and leadership effectiveness. Preview a live
demo at www.WolfRinke.com. To take advantage of Dr. Rinke's services
contact us at 800-828-9653 or WolfRinke@aol.com
8. PRIVACY STATEMENT AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
We will not make your name or e-mail address available to anyone. Period!
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