The Whale Story "Celebrate what you want to see more of." by Tom Peters

"Have you ever wondered how the whale and porpoise trainers at Sea World get Shamu, the 19,000-pound whale, to jump 22 feet out of the water and perform tricks? They get the whale to go over a rope farther out of the water than most of us can imagine. This is a great challenge – as great as the ones you and I face as parents, coaches and managers.

Can you imagine the typical American managerial approach to this situation? The first thing we would do would be to get that rope right up there at 22 feet – no sense celebrating shortcomings. We call that goal-setting, or strategic planning. With the goal clearly defined, we now have to figure out a way to motivate the whale. So we take a bucket of fish and put it right above that 22-foot rope – don't pay the whale unless it performs. Then we have to give direction. We lean over from our nice high and dry perch and say, "Jump whale!"….and the whale stays right where it is.

So how do the trainers at Sea World do it? Their number one priority is to reinforce the behaviour that they want repeated – in this case, to get the whale or porpoise to go over the rope. They influence the environment every way they can so that it supports the principle of making sure that the whale cannot fail.

They start with the rope below the surface of the water, in a position where the whale can't help but do what is expected of it. Every time the whale goes over the rope, it gets positive reinforcement. It gets fed fish, patted, played with, and the most important, it gets that reinforcement.

But what happens when the whale goes under the rope? Nothing – no electric shock, no constructive criticism, no developmental feedback and no warnings in the personnel file. Whales are taught that their negative behaviour will not be acknowledged.

Positive reinforcement is the cornerstone of that simple principle that produces such spectacular results. And as the whale begins to go over the rope more than under, the trainers begin to raise the rope. It must be raised slowly enough so that the whale doesn't starve physically or emotionally.

The simple lesson to be learned from the whale trainers is to over-celebrate. Make a big deal out of the good and little stuff that we want consistently. Secondly, under-criticise. People know when they screw up. What they need is help. If we under-criticise, punish and discipline less than is expected, people will forget the event and usually not repeat it.

In my opinion, most successful businesses today are doing things right more than 95 percent of the time. Yet what do we spend the majority of our time giving feedback on? That's right – the 2, 3, 4, maybe even 5 percent of things that we don't want repeated and didn't want to happen in the first place.

We need to set up the circumstances so that people can't fail. Over-celebrate, under-criticise…and know how far to raise the rope.

ACTION STEP: Find some doing something right today and help them celebrate!

This story has been doing the "rounds" for a few years but never loses its power in the retelling of it. The most recent time I have seen the story is on Martin Avis's very clever Kickstart Today Newsletter.

"During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one:

'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

'Absolutely,' said the professor. 'In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.'

I've never forgotten that lesson.

I've also never forgotten her name was Dorothy."

Martin writes his example of the power of the story:

That story reminded me of the last Advertising Agency I worked at (a few years ago now).

One day a new receptionist arrived. A sweet girl who spoke good, but halting English. It turned out that she was Bulgarian and was working in London for a year to improve her language skills.

She was an interesting and intelligent girl who was planning to become a language teacher. I often stopped by for a quick chat when I was passing.

When Christmas Eve came, I found a small parcel on my desk. It was a little aromatherapy burner with a note that read:

"Thank you for being the only person in the whole company who ever says more than 'Good Morning' and 'Good Night'. Katya."

In the New Year Katya went back to Bulgaria and shortly after I left that company but that little gift meant a lot to me - even if it did make me very sad that her statement was so typical of most businesses in London.

Eight years on, my own daughter is a receptionist in a busy London office and tells me that the number of people who bother to know her name can be counted on one hand.

People don't change, but perhaps they should.

And for my story on the power of your name, I will tell you about Hong and Ahn who have recently taken over the coffee shop at our office complex in Perth.

Hong and Ahn have taken a very poorly preforming business and turned t on its ear.

Their secret?? Simple really.

Hong and Ahn make a point of knowing EVERY one of their customers names. To the point of making a note of it in an exercise book discretely kept under the counter. And it is magical to see the power of remembering someone's name when they have only ever been to your shop once... six weeks ago.

ACTION STEP: So, take the time today to learn the name of someone you have acknowledged over the last year (or 5?? ) yet not addressed them by name. You will love the reaction and feel much better too.