The following contains excerpts from the book, Whale Done (Ken Blanchard, Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins, Jim Ballard).
At our music school in Midland, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. In Leadership, relationships matter.
The thesis of this book is that positive affirmation is a much better leadership ideology than the traditional critical/punishment style of motivation in the work-force. Using the example of SeaWorld’s trainers, in dealing with killer whales, the only way to safely and successfully bring these huge and dangerous creatures into a desire to collaboratively perform amazing stunts for an enthusiastic audience is through encouragement and accentuation of the positive. Doing anything else would quickly end in calamity. If it works with killer whales, why not with people?
The idea is to understand “the power of positive relationships and the need to catch people doing things right in order to develop productive work and home environments.” The author writes, “I was firmly convinced that punishment was harmful in human relationships, and I realized instinctively that it wouldn’t be a smart move with killer whales…I was particularly fascinated by the ability of SeaWorld trainers to use redirection. Upon encountering any undesirable behaviors on the whales’ part, they would immediately refocus those energies elsewhere…to catch whales doing something right.”
Our teaching approach at our music school in Midland, Texas is to affirm the student when progress if made, highlighting the positive. When correction is given, it is always in the light of future success.
In applying these principles in a business environment, the author, for the remainder of the book discusses Anne Marie Butler’s business model, based on the killer whale training. In ‘catching people doing something good,’ she refers to this a giving people a ‘whale done.’ (A phonetic adaptation of ‘well done’.)
Her ABC’s of performance is as follows:
A= Activator (whatever gets performance going)
B= Behavior (the performance that occurs)
C= Consequence (your response to the performance)
The most common activators are goals. “All good performance starts with clear goals.” Then you must observe the behavior that follows. “With people at work, it might be talking effectively with customers, achieving a sales quota, or getting a report in on time. With kids, it might be cleaning their room or doing homework.” Consequence is what happens after you get the behavior you’re looking for. Unfortunately, the most common response people get is no response.
Four kinds of consequences:
- No response
- Negative response
- Redirection
- Positive response
The Redirection Response:
- Describe the error of problem as soon as possible, clearly and without blame
- Show its negative impact
- If appropriate, take the blame for not making the task clear
- Go over the task in detail and make sure it is clearly understood
- Express your continuing trust and confidence in the person
“It is important to emphasize here not to wait for exactly right behavior before you respond positively…The point here is that progress- doing something better- is constantly being noticed, acknowledged, and rewarded. We need to do the same thing with people- catch them doing things better, if not exactly right, and praise progress. That way, you set them up for success and build from there.”
“Catching them doing things wrong is easy…catching people doing things right is what I’ve come to call- if you’ll pardon the pun- the WHALE DONE Response…you may have to deliberately look past the undesirable behaviors that used to grab all your attention. In other words, you have to change what you are looking for.”
At our music school in Midland, Texas we endeavor to catch the student doing something right in order to reinforce the positive and accentuate each student’s unique strength.
The WHALE DONE Response:
- Praise people immediately
- Be specific about what they did right or almost right
- Share your positive feelings about what they did
- Encourage them to keep up the good work
“Every person is wearing a big sign that says, CATCH ME DOING SOMETHING RIGHT. Determine to respond positively to all the people around you…if you make a conscious effort to emphasize the positive in all you relationships, eventually it will become a habit. And it’s going to pay off in ways you can’t imagine.”
“People ask me, ‘What about unacceptable behaviors or poor performance on the job? How do you deal with those?’ I usually recommend the Redirection response. But if somebody knows better and they continue with unacceptable behavior, that’s an attitude problem. A Redirecting response will have little effect because they already know what to do. They need to know in no uncertain terms that what they are doing is unacceptable to you. But remember, a Negative response is a last resort.”
There are times, at our music school in Midland, Texas, when we need to bring awareness to the student of their attitude, but most often difficult attitudes are a result of some underlying issue in their lives that they may be struggling with at the time. This gives the teacher an opportunity to teach in ways beyond the scope of music into ‘life-lessons.’
In the end, “they need to know that it’s the behavior, not them, that you find unacceptable…You should also remember that whenever you criticize someone’s performance or give negative feedback, no matter how carefully you do it, it tends to harm or detract from your relationship with that person. If you keep it up, you will poison the relationship. They’ll lose trust and start trying to get even with you. This is where it helps to think of a relationship as being like a bank account. If you give a Negative response to someone who knows better, it helps if you have money in that relationship bank- that is, if you’ve previously been giving that person lots of WHALE DONEs, then he or she won’t mind the correction. When the trust is there, a mistake can even lead to better performance. WHALE DONE- accentuating the positive- always creates a constructive cycle.”
At our music school in Midland, Texas we believe that the foundation of any relationship is trust.
“Finding out what motivates people is important…you don’t want people to become dependent solely on your noticing and commenting, so they do well only when you’re around. The point of good management is to influence people to do the right thing when you’re not around…Instead of building dependency on others for a reward, you want people to do the right thing because they themselves enjoy it.”
“Response is a good start, but after a while it may ring hollow. Knowing the particular things that motivate and compel each person helps you add power to their motivation…it is important…not to assume you know what is motivation that person.”
“Whale Done only works when you’re sincere and honest…and remember, catch yourself doing things right. Praise your own progress. And be patient. When something is worth doing, keep doing it.”
“If someone, no matter how they’re trained and encouraged, is not able to perform up to standard, they shouldn’t be punished. They should be shifted to a position where they can succeed.”
“Positive responses motivate people to continue to do positive things. It’s an upward spiral.”
“If you catch yourself doing things right, everything in your life will improve- especially your relationships. That’s because it’s fun to be around someone who likes himself.”
We make it our aim, at our music school in Midland, Texas, to bring each student to full autonomy, where they can continue to learn and grow even without a teacher, by gathering to themselves new streams of knowledge and experience. The ability to encourage themselves by seeing the positive value within is congruent with that expectation.