Do you reward good behaviours & activities or focus on adjusting undesirable ones?
For #leaders of businesses, community or NFP organisations, families, etc, there are times when behaviours need to be either encouraged or eliminated.
Research shows that recognising or reinforcing desired behaviour is more likely to create sustainable change than punishing “bad” behaviour.
Another challenge is that, to be effective, the response to the behaviour – reprimand or penalty – needs to occur immediately after it is noticed.
On the other hand, positive reinforcement of desired behaviours – reward, acknowledgement, incentive, etc – can occur some time after the event and still be effective. It’s also longer lasting.
It’s because our brain is wired so that we’re more likely to adjust our behaviour in anticipation of reward than punishment.
This also relates to the struggle to contain the CoVid pandemic, especially in Victoria.
Less than 1% of the population are breaching protocols & engaging in risky behaviours, but that’s all that we are hearing about.
Setting aside issues of lack of training & low multi-cultural awareness in decision-making & communications, the vast majority of people are behaving well.
What if we rewarded the good behaviour & encouraged people to spread the word, not the virus?
