Most people want to do the right thing—if it’s easy to do.
Several Atlantic coast beaches have adopted this mantra, making it easier for beach walkers to pick up litter that collects on the shore. Communities have installed “beach trees” with plastic baskets for people to use to hold recyclables and trash they find while walking. It makes trash collecting easier and allows people to have ownership of the area. A win-win for everyone!
What behavior could you incentivize by making it easier for people to participate?
I was given an assignment that I believe is short-sighted, and I find myself in that familiar dilemma, wondering whether it is worth the energy to question it. I have spoken up on many occasions, only to be “Whack-a-Moled” down with either immediate or long-term consequences. It has caused me to weigh the cost of speaking up vs. the ease of just doing what the person asked.
Many factors go into the decision — circumstances, psychological safety, the relationship with the person, the impact of the assignment, and how likely it is that feedback will be received. It’s easy to adopt a “They don’t care, so why should I?” attitude, but that ultimately erodes personal integrity as well as organizational success.
Most of the time, I opt to say something, despite the discomfort and frustration over my perspective being dismissed, but I can physically feel the conscious decision point when I make that choice. Silence rarely does any good in the long run.
I have an Argyle Sweater Page-a-Day calendar (highly recommend for daily chuckles) that came with the obligatory page of corporate identification and publisher information.
It reads:
Andrews McMeel Publishing is committed to the responsible use of natural resources and is dedicated to understanding, measuring, and reducing the impact of our products on the natural world. Recognizing the impact of plastic pollution, we have changed the easel backers on our day-to-day calendars from plastic to paper-based material. Follow our sustainability journey at [link].
I highlighted the word “measuring” because it signals that they are serious about their commitment. It’s easy to write platitudes, but the real impact comes when results are known and shared.
Do you measure things that are important to you? Beyond financials, it could include employee satisfaction, diversity initiatives, innovation, or the number of product returns. Personally, measurements may involve calories, steps, friends met for lunch, letters written, or volunteer hours. The options are limitless.
Measuring is an often overlooked and sometimes dreaded aspect of the change process, but little happens without it. Explicitly incorporate some tracking process for the things you value.
On the table at the local pizza place were two shakers of peppers: Hatch Valley Green and Four Pepper Blend. Usually, it’s a roulette of guessing and testing to see which (or whether) pepper would be best for the pie, but these jars were clearly labeled with a thermometer and “heat” rating. I could tell just by looking at them that the Four Peppers would be beyond my comfort level, but the Hatch Valley may add a welcome kick.
Here’s a hot tip: craft your labeling or instructions to preemptively answer the questions users may have, so customers don’t have to pepper your staff with questions.
Organizations often try to build brand loyalty at an early age. Colleges host summer camps for middle schoolers. Orchestras have youth programs. Churches have vacation Bible schools.
Aldi is actively pursuing the younger crowd with a line of Aldi-branded toys. Items include an Aldi semitruck, a cash register, a Fisher-Price Little People play set, and my favorite: a mini-shopping cart with the signature quarter holder. It’s a great way to reinforce the Aldi name and build that initial affinity.
What is your organization doing to cultivate awareness with your next generation of clients? It’s never too soon to start.
I was the first house in the new subdivision, so I was given the keys for mailbox #1. Only after other homes had been built did the Post Office consider that I was the second house on the block. Consequently, we had to switch keys and labeling so I could have box #2, allowing the mail to be kept in the order of house number instead of when they were first occupied.
In a similar vein, while working on campus, we planned to build five new student apartment buildings. We assigned them names of trees, and planned to label them in alphabetical order. What would end up being the third building in the row was built first, and we had to insist that it be named Cedar (instead of Aspen) so they would be in alphabetical order when the complex was finished.
And another example: when we renamed the generic Conference Rooms A, B, and C, we intentionally identified the smallest as the Dubuque Room, the mid-size one as the Iowa Room (bigger than Dubuque), and the largest as the Mississippi Room (bigger than Iowa). This naming convention allowed people to easily associate the name with size and reserve the proper facility.
Your naming conventions can serve a purpose beyond simply giving something a label. Put some forethought into what you call things and how those names can facilitate memory or efficiency as they are used in the future.
For the final project in the capstone class I’m teaching, I required the students to put together a dossier—a collection of their resume and examples of work products or assignments from their time of study. In addition, the students had to write a philosophy statement to synthesize their learning and reflect on how they approach their work as a result of this degree.
At one of my workplaces, I was required to compile an annual report that served a similar purpose to the dossier. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise, but it caused me to pause and consider the successes and challenges of the previous year. It also provided a historical perspective I could reference to remind myself that progress was being made, even when it didn’t feel like it.
The same is true for final reports on major projects, annual reviews, and resolutions of a personal nature. If you stop to reflect and compile the happenings from an extended period, it often provides a sense of accomplishment that would otherwise go unnoticed. It’s back to that “stringing the pearls” philosophy, where intentionally connecting seemingly disparate items creates synergy greater than the individual parts.
Make it part of your routine to tangibly collect evidence of your major work or the passage of another year. Seeing it together is worth the effort of compiling it.
When design student Veronika Scott was challenged to create a product that filled a need, she designed a coat that could transform into a sleeping bag to help the homeless. She won an international award for her creation, but more importantly, worked to bring the product to life.
Veronika created a nonprofit, the Empowerment Plan, and hires people from homeless shelters to help make the coats. At work, they also receive on-site programming and support, allowing 100% of those employees have stable housing a year after leaving the organization. Over 100,000 EMPWR coats have been distributed free of charge to those in need, all provided through sponsorships of $150/coat.
Veronika is a beautiful example of the power of synergy. It’s not just the coat design, offering them through partnerships, hiring the homeless, or providing life resources to her employees, but the entire cycle that works in harmony to create something special.
Veronika could have stopped with her class project, or design award, or outsourced production, or offered jobs but not training, or sold the coats to outdoor adventurers — but she was intentional about each step in the process and remained focused on helping the homeless.
Take a lesson from the Empowerment Plan and create a greater impact in the whole system, not just one piece of it.
Today is National Handwriting Day, one of those arbitrary holidays created to focus attention on an issue. The date was selected because it is John Hancock’s birthday — in honor of the first and most prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence.
I have always been a big fan of handwriting, whether that be letters, meeting notes, lists, or journals. I agree with the neurologists who believe that writing by hand remains the most powerful way to learn and retain information. It combines the tactile act of physically crafting the letters with the visual aspect of seeing them on the page. The engagement of motor, cognitive, and emotional functions helps (me at least) with the thinking process and recall. It’s in part why writing on Post-it notes works as reminders.
This “holiday” was established in 1977 by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association to promote the use of pens, pencils, and paper. In addition to being an occasion to be more deliberate about the words we write, it also allows our personality to come through more fully. I have saved letters and recipes from my mom, and just seeing her handwriting allows me to feel closer to her.
Create your own mini-celebration of National Handwriting Day by putting pen to paper today. Write a thank you or note of appreciation to someone. Take notes by hand in your next meeting. Draft a proposal on a legal pad instead of a computer. Write your list on paper instead of using an app.
The power of the pen comes from merely using it, not just from the words you write.
Stephen Covey wrote about the essential Quadrant 2, where activities live that are Important, but not Urgent. It is so easy to neglect work that falls in this category, principally because it doesn’t make its way onto your calendar.
I find myself with an empty-ish schedule, tricking my brain into thinking I am “free,” but if I look at the projects I could/should be completing, they are all important tasks, just ones without a deadline. This includes things like updating the syllabus from my last class, completing a final report for a project, and categorizing past dots. There is no due date, so it’s up to me to find the motivation to work on them.
Quadrant 2 activities also include personal enhancements such as fitness and relationships. Unless (and until) I make them a priority or put them on the calendar, those, too, often get pushed aside for less important but compelling time-fillers.
It’s a curse of formal education that we are trained to live by the deadline. Assignments are due. Class periods are structured. Our many years of schooling are externally driven, and we don’t always learn how to prioritize and do the Q2 tasks.
Take a moment today to break that pattern. Translate something important into a deadline. Commit to calling a friend by Sunday. Identify a specific time to do some reflection. Add time to your calendar to start a Q2 project. Schedule time to go for a walk.
It’s the important that urgently needs our attention.
