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