Page 218 - The Power to Change Anything
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Design Rewards and Demand Accountability 207


               overall is up to snuff—then set performance goals in the lag-
               ging areas, and don’t be afraid to reward small improvements.
               This means that you shouldn’t wait for big results but should
               reward improvement in vital behaviors along the way.
                   For example, while working on a change project in a mas-
               sive production facility in Texas, a member of the change steer-
               ing committee abruptly informed the leaders that the culture
               was too negative. Apparently he had read the surveys. His exact
               words were: “Do something right around here, and you never
               hear about it. But do something wrong, and it can haunt you
               for your entire career.”
                   With this in mind, the CEO asked all the leaders to keep
               an eye open for a notable accomplishment—something they
               could celebrate. For about a week nothing happened. Then
               one of the assembly areas set a performance record. The crew
               had assembled more units in one day than ever before. The
               CEO immediately called for a celebration.
                   While it seemed like a victory, the details the leaders
               uncovered as they researched this record revealed something
               quite different. It turned out that in order to set a record in pro-
               duction, the afternoon shift had reduced quality standards on
               the product. They had also focused only on producing, and not
               on replacing the stock they used up, which left the morning
               shift with a lot of extra work. Finally, the workers had purposely
               underperformed the previous day in order to set themselves up
               to hit record numbers on the day in question.
                   In short, leaders were horrified to discover that they were
               inadvertently rewarding behaviors that ultimately hurt the com-
               pany and morale. They had rewarded results without giving any
               thought to the behaviors that drove them.


               Reward Vital Behaviors Alone

               In addition to the fact that rewarding results can be unwise if
               you’re unable to observe people’s actions, it’s important to
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