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The Power of Praise and the Greater Power of Feedback

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“Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free – and worth a fortune.” – Sam Walton

“Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of feedback. They’re absolutely free – and worth a fortune.” – Mike Chitty

You see the thing about praise is that it can tend to be quite general.  When you praise someone for their great work they are not always sure exactly which aspect of the work you thought was so great.  I think praise is great – it just won’t always get you more of the behaviours that you are seeking.

When you give feedback the recipient understands exactly which aspects of their work you value so highly because you describe their behaviours and the impact that they had – specifically – significantly increasing the chances of you getting more of that type of behaviour in the future.

Well being and Enterprise

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For a long time now I have been an advocate for enterprise development as tool of personal and community wellbeing.  I have seen it work so often.  However enterprise is so inextricably entwined with entrepreneurship that it is difficult to really engage health professionals (who arguably lead on ‘wellbeing’ in the UK) in the potential of the enterprise agenda.  When they think enterprise they generally think social enterprise and new patterns of commissioning.  Hey Ho! 

I was interested to hear that John Healey has been encouraging Councils to consider using their ‘wellbeing’ powers to help local communities through the current economic downturn.

The wellbeing power permits councils to do anything (except raise tax) to promote the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their area. While nine out of ten councils are aware of the power, fewer than one in twelve are using it.

As long as the council’s actions are in the interest of local wellbeing, the power is available to enable a wide range of actions – saving councils time, avoiding complex legal procedures and cutting red tape.

John Healey said:

“The wellbeing power could be used to tackle some of the very real problems faced by communities during this economic downturn. Some councils have shown the way, using it to drive investment in their area, get local people into jobs or make savings by delivering more efficient services. I’m determined that more of them see this potential. That’s why I am writing to all councils today highlighting practical advice that will help them put this key tool to best use.”

  • Greenwich council used the power to tackle worklessness in their area, creating an employment agency in support of the existing community training agency
  • in Torbay the council founded a Development Agency using the wellbeing power, which helped to boost tourism, economic development, and the regeneration of its harbour
  • a joint agreement between North Tyneside and Newcastle City Council was facilitated by the Wellbeing power and provided a whole new street lighting infrastructure. The move helped to regenerate the local area, restoring civic pride, improving house prices, attracting new businesses and reducing crime
  • London Borough of Newham used the Wellbeing power as an opportunity to invest in a partnership project with the local PCT. The Local Finance Improvement Trust they created will build new premises and provide social care services in three London authorities
  • using the Wellbeing power the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea improved the safety of their local area. The council funded the employment of fifteen additional Community Support Officers to provide more uniformed presence on the streets, contributing to reduced street crime
  • in Wakefield, families living on an estate blighted by crime and drug-abuse were given a lifeline by the wellbeing power. It allowed the houses to be bought by the Council without a lengthy Compulsory Purchase Order process. The families were able to move away from the area and get a fair price for their homes – and the Council was free to redevelop the estate.

Makes you wonder whether enterprise professionals could sell a case to a local council to use their wellbeing powers to support enterprise projects as a vehicle for progress.  I would like to think that three years into LEGI at least some working models that might deserve replication were starting to emerge. 

Anyone care to work up some ideas?

Changing Habits

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The biggest challenge to developing as a manager is not so much learning new techniques and approaches.  That part can be quite straightforward.

The real challenge comes in letting go of existing habits and routines, making ourselves say and do something that we wouldn’t normally do.  Avoiding the knee jerk habitual responses that have worked for us in the past and replacing them with responses that will better for us in the future..

Literally making the effort to be someone who we are not.

A Truth About Enterprise and Entrepreneurship?

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So here is my contribution to Enterprise Week.

DO NOT START UP YOUR OWN BUSINESS – UNLESS YOU HAVE TO.

Not the message that is usually put out, especially by national, regional and local government, but after 25 years of running and supporting small businesses, that is my best advice.  Don’t do it – unless you have to. Unless of course you have money to burn.

Because the truth is that small business is a really hard game.  You have to provide a great product or service – and one miscalculation, or one bad debt, can put you out of the game and into the bankruptcy courts. Few people succeed in business the first time they try.

It takes resilience, persistence, self confidence and courage.

The chances of success are slim and the levels of commitment and hard work required are, in most cases, enormous.

Your business will almost certainly steal you away from friends and family at least for the first few years, and many successful entrepreneurs talk about how much their business has cost them in terms of their relationships and health, as well as cash.

This is the reality of entrepreneurship that needs to be taught.  (Policy makers please take note.  If we were this honest about the nature of entrepreneurship we might not get as many people involved in enterprise week – but a far higher percentage that did get involved would go on to be successful entrepreneurs.)

Those that ‘have to’ start a business fall into two very different camps.  The first ‘have to’ because they have no other economic option for survival.  Enterprise is their ONLY option.  It is the only way they can make a living.  For those whom enterprise is a forced choice the outcome is rarely great.

The second group ‘have to’ because it is the only way that they can have the freedom to do what they have to do, to be the person that they have to be and provide the products and services that they really have to provide.  Enterprise provides them with a way of becoming the person that they feel they have to be.  It is about their own identity as a human being.

So the rallying call for enterprise week should be,

‘DO NOT DO IT- UNLESS YOU HAVE TO!

Unless it is the only way for you to become the person that you really want to be’.

And if we invested our energy into helping people to really understand who or what they want to become we might find that all of a sudden ‘enterprise’ starts to look after itself.

Of course for those that ‘have to’ enterprise can be a wonderfully powerful vehicle to achieve remarkable results.  I am not anti enterprise – quite the opposite.  I just wish we could present it honestly as the double edged sword that it truly is.

Managing through the Crunch

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It can be a tough time to try to get an organisation to focus on anything that is not, in the short term, going to increase profits or reduce costs.  People are really beginning to understand what is meant by an ‘uncertain future’.

And this makes it just the right time to re-double your investment in engaging your employees in shaping the ‘uncertain future’ of your organisation. 

It takes time, commimtment and courage to really engage people in the process – but, as the economist Paul Romer said “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”.