Not an April-Fool, but it was a genuine effort of the CEO to understand the "how-&-what" of the things gone right! That - 'to be a learner' - is surely the sign of a 'good' leader wanting to be a 'great' one!
In past I often found an answer to this question in the judicious mix of the application of reinforcement techniques (as the environmental nudges to perform), intrinsic motivation of a person and her capability to perform. So was my reply to the CEO!
Ability + Motivation + Environmental nudges = Performance! I tossed the equation at him.
(Extract from the book: Ego + Ego ... We Go! Behavior Modulation Techniques To Improve Kaizen Leadership, Performance & Negotiation Skills by Shyam Talawadekar)
"You get what you review" as someone has said. I've had firsthand experience of this statement during my leadership career that one must incorporate nudges as an integral part of the Performance-equation as above, I told the CEO.
Consistency in you conducting weekly reviews as the nudges - that consisted of clarity on the weekly goals in tune with the annual ones, enabling teams to work within the constraints on resources, to comply with the standards, driving improvements on the root causes of the shortfalls, if any - followed by instantaneous non-monitory-recognitions as Positive Reinforcements, to those intrinsically motivated employees demonstrating values-based performance, played a major role in getting the desired &/or the raised level of performance.
It may not be out of place here to remember that there is a Difference between Ability, Capacity, Capability and the Competence that differentiate between achieving a desired level of performance rather than merely the performance itself.
By the side of the Positive Reinforcements, Negative Reinforcements where needed, such as say the fear of losing compensation proportionate to the lower level of performance, if any, play their own role.
Of course, fear of rationalised punishment, like the one that some non performing managers got in the said company, play its role too.
The positive effect of the former - the Positive Reinforcements - however, gets more than nullified by upsetting the capable as also the intrinsically motivated employees, if the latter, the Negative Reinforcement & especially the punishment to the non performers, is not put in place adequately! However, such a punishment in particular, should not be awarded unless every other effort - Saamaa-Daamaa-Dandaa-Bhedaa - had already failed.
So, effective execution of environmental nudges is as important as building capable people while riding on their intrinsic motivation in order to get the desired level of performance!
It's good to reflect and build upon the causes of what went right (or what went wrong) in the above process of performance development-cum-management in its intermittent stages rather than complacently rejoicing a good performance (or playing a blame-game regretting a bad performance) at the end of the pipeline.
Such a 'process of reflection' is called as the Hansen-Kai way to learn wisdom! in Kaizen practising companies.
Isn't this the job of a Great leader and that of her Good leadership team!
Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:
Do You Force Customers To Quit
In-a-problem ? No-problem! Dwell-a-while!
Customer or Custo-Mer ?
Experienced A Delightful Payment !
An Experience of Heart-and-Soul
Do you keep curing your brand ?
A customer gets what s/he deserves: Shoddy Quality!
Listen to iceberg of VOC to acquire customers
Less With More And More Gets Sore
Should one care for value ?
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture
Tolerate Once, Twice, Thrice?
The Business Of Businesses
That's how some business partnerships work
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!
Strategise To Achieve Targets Daily
Does recognition really matter
That's How Morons Work
Simplicity Of Theory Of Relativity
Difference between raam-&-krishna tactics
