Careful What you Measure...You Just Might Get It

Did you read the article in the New York Times about the jailor who made a fortune by letting his prisoners go hungry? Apparently in Alabama, there was a law allowing sheriffs to pocket any money left over after they've paid for prisoners' meals. Over a few years, he'd pocketed almost a quarter million dollars.

Of course he gave them corn dogs, peanut butter and scraps. That's what he was incented to do.

It seems obvious, but there's a good lesson here for business. You get what you reward.

In our performance management practice we often see leaders incenting one desired behavior (like cutting costs or growing revenue), while inadvertantly encouraging a bad behavior at the same time.

Here's an example. A salesperson's performance goals are tied soley to revenue growth. Of course that's the key measure...but be careful what you wish for. Do you just want sales growth -- at any cost? What if the salesperson cuts "bad deals" to make monthly goals?

Lesson Learned:

Metrics and incentives are a form of communication. They tell people in your organization what is valued. You get what you incent, so choose carefully to avoid unintended results.

© 2009. Phyllis Roteman of The Loyalty Group, Inc. Sherman Oaks, CA.

Can People be "Toxic"?

Several months ago I blogged about "toxic people". The concept of people being toxic is not a new one. Books with titles "Emotional Vampires", "Toxic People" and "Nasty People" show the popularity of the topic and people's hunger for strategies for dealing with these people.

These people.

Since writing my earlier blogs, I've shifted my thinking a bit. I'm currently working on a webinar for Stanford University on this topic - and I like that someone suggested changing the title from "Toxic People" to "Toxic Behaviors".

Initially I accomodated, recognizing that a University must be politically correct. However, the more I've played with the concepts, the more I've grown to prefer the term "toxic behaviors".

Labeling people as emotional vampires or toxic people can be, in itself, unhealthy. Can people really be toxic? Or is it their emotionally draining, negative behavior that's toxic?

If you must work or live with someone who's behavior is "toxic", you've got to figure out a strategy for getting along with them. If you write someone off as being bad or toxic, there's not much you can do. The problem becomes out of your control. It's those people who are the problem.

You can address people's bad behavior. By asking yourself, "How can I cope with this person's toxic behavior, so it doesn't affect me negatively?" - you give yourself some control over the situation. You're not powerless.

A key strategy for working or living with toxic behavior, I have found, is trying to empathize with the person whose behavior is negative. I doubt that people are born with toxic behavior. I've never seen a toxic infant. People become critical, negative and nasty for a reason. Empathizing - recognizing that the person isn't bad, but their behavior is - may help you stay cool and protect you from taking their behavior personally.

What do you think?

Copyright 2008. Phyllis Roteman. The Loyalty Group. Sherman Oaks, CA.