"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it 
If you can dream it, you can become it."   WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD


How High Should I Jump?                   February 22nd,  2007


This story was sent to me by Kevin Bolt who has been a Maverick Spirit supporter for years. It is from one of my all time favourites, Tom Peters and it really is a great read. It reminds me of the teaching methods used at puppy school but we are talking here about whales.

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!

 


Enjoy this issue of The Maverick Spirit...  That's it for today, until next time, continue to enjoy being a free spirit in a complicated world... 

Wayne Mansfield

P.S. Did you know that the blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived and can weight up to 200 tons or about the size of 30 elephants. And if you are wondering, the blue whale is grey and has a monster tongue that weights in at 22 tons.

P.P.S. And the Hump Back whale has the reputation as the most athletic and playful of the whales and is sometimes known as the singing whale. Apart from singing for up to 36 minutes at a time, the Hump Back breeches, leaping clear out of the water spinning, falling back and splashing in joyful delight.

And for something really different:

Visit my daily thoughts and views at    www.waynemansfield.com  
where you can leave comments and ideas
on stuff that doesn't make it to The Maverick Spirit
 
Life's Little Instruction Book

Never give your credit card number over the phone if you didn't place the call.

Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, love something, and has lost something.

Take along two big safety pins when you travel so that you can pin the drapes shut in your hotel room.

Source:          H. Jackson Brown, Jr  Life's Little Instruction Book
MAVERICK QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I felt that I could make a difference.
That's the best reason to go into business."

Sir Richard Branson
Chairman of Virgin Group

Resolve to make a difference in someone's life today - something as simple as a smile can brighten a person's day. Remember, the little things in business, and in life, often make the biggest difference.

Samuel Maverick (1803-70) Texan rancher who, when branding of stock was introduced chose "Not to Brand." Every unbranded horse or cow he then claimed as a Maverick!

Feedback:   I have selected just a couple of comments today from fellow Maverick Spiriters.. and I hope to hear from you soon with your words of encouragement, wisdom and resolve.

Wayne,

Norman Vincent Peale said: "The most important word in the English language is a person's name" (or similar).

I used to run a driving school, where you have a rather close relationship with your client, especially the long term clients. Probably spurned on by Norman, I remember one Burmese (or Cambodian) girl's name: Let me try her name - Baphaiphon Chunta Churain. That was 25 years ago. With longer term clients I used to also try and remember the name of another important someone in that student's life.

It took until Dieter Brummer was on Home and Away (about 15 years after I arrived in Australia) before people stopped calling me Peter, Pete, Dean, Dita or plainly mate. If I had kept a list of long term friends who still spelled my name, or that of my wife, incorrectly on last year
s Christmas cards, it is amazing, how little notice we take of people's name.

You're doing a great job, mate.

Dieter Fischer
www.driving-school.com.au
www.dieterfischer.com

Wayne

Good one, where have you been?

Dean Frith
Forge Real Estate Wallacia


Welcome back Wayne

But where have you been as far as we are concerned.?

The Maverick Spirit used to arrive regularly in St Leonards but we are obviously not getting some of them if the comments from some of your readers are anything to go by.

Your latest offering regarding 'what's in a name' struck a chord because arriving from London in 1957 (I worked in Albemarle Street just off Piccadilly) it was one of the first things that dismayed me ! However, you should know that we originally settled in Brisbane and in our estimation, it was at least 20 years behind the times in those days. Perth had impressed us on our way through by ship (Stratheden) and Melbourne seemed very 'Victorian' We hardly saw anything of Sydney as we were whisked away by cab to Mascot late in the afternoon to make sure we arrived in time to meet a welcoming 'party' of One. It was a Friday and nothing was open on Saturday or Sunday so our first impressions were coloured by the events !

However, we spent 11 years in Queensland and have lived in Sydney ever since, but I have fortunately seen far more of Australia than the average Australian and now " I still call Australia Home"

Jack Leech

You can't please everyone... haven't they heard of the delete key??

Dear Wayne Mansfield,

Despite several attempt to get off your mailing list, I am still receiving unsolicited e-mails from you! All future e-mails will be forwarded to the West Australian Newspaper to show that you have not taken your spamming conviction seriously.

Please remove me from your mailing list as well as any other lists you may be selling on. Since I currently receive very little spam, any increase in the near future would have to point directly to you.

Yours sincerely,
Edda Emery

But then again... I do have some fans.

Wayne

On the power of names -

I always discretely look at the name tag of the girl serving at any checkout register and then thank them by name when I leave, and I rarely see even the busiest checkout operator not smile and feel special. It's a thankless job and I love to see that their day has been brightened by a personal thank you. Occasionally, some are even confused at how I know their name, and that gives them a real buzz that I have taken the "trouble" to care enough to find out.

Knowing someone's name really does matter to them.

Ray Grinberg

 

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Until next time then... enjoy being a free spirit in a complicated world.

Wayne Mansfield Editor

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eMail: thespirit@spiritmailer.com


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