ElementalTruths.Com ©

A significant portion of my professional career has been devoted to behavior analysis and modification plans. Initially, though still considerable, my success rate was not as high as it currently is.

There was one reason why.I failed to take into account the underlying temperaments of the subjects and clients.

This adjustment has improved my effectiveness in public education, corrections counseling and private counseling to an enormous, even immeasurable degree.
Although, it is impossible to put the entirety of my findings here, I have managed to distill a few of the major tenets.

1. Most behavior is learned.Whether by design, or by chance, an exhibited behavior has yielded a desirable result at some time. Consider your arrival home from the market. You are greeted by your cat, which comes to investigate your recent purchases. While you set about opening the can of tuna for the kitty, she entwines herself about your ankles and in the process bumps her head three times against the cabinet. Coincidentally, at this exact moment you place the food in her dish. “Tah-Dah!” You have just witnessed the birth of a “learned behavior.’

Now, every time you prepare to feed the cat, she bumps her head three times on the cabinet. In her mind the two are connected as cause and effect.
Of course this is an extreme over simplification, but you may draw your own parallels to human behavior.
2. Systematically repeating an action until you automatically perform the action without consciously thinking about it is the working definition for a habit. This holds true for positive behaviors such as brushing your teeth after meals as well as negative behaviors such as having a smoke after dinner (see for example the classroom procedures of Harry K. Wong and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People).
3. Once a habit is established, it takes at least 2 to 4 weeks of consciously substituting a positive replacement behavior before the bad habit is considered to be “broken.

4. Behavior can be adapted; personality can adjust to the environment; but underlying temperament can not be changed.

Keep these truths in mind when thinking about behavior management. Practically applied this means, placing a choleric temperament in a subservient role will always result in discord and displays of maladaptive behaviors.

5. Temperament, or ones core “self” is not determined by gender, age, ethnicity or economic status. Attempting to modify a maladaptive behavior without taking into account the underlying temperament will only lead to frustration on the part of the individual attempting to change the maladaptive behavior. This is true whether the individual is attempting to change their own behavior or another individual is attempting to modify the behavior of a subject or client. This is one instance in which the adage, “fake it until you make it,” simply does not apply.

6. Although we often use the terms interchangeably Behavior Management is NOT the same as Behavior Analysis. Behavior Analysis is a science concerned with what people do and say. Behavior analysis focuses on the voluntary and physiological influences on behavior. Behavior Management focuses on the motivation for and results of specific behaviors.

7. Your may have noticed that most behaviors are accompanied by one of six primary emotions (Parrot, 2001). Those primary emotions are: a) Love b) Joy c) Surprise d) Anger e) Sadness and f) Fear.
If you are adept at understanding these six emotions, you will have useful insight into the accompanying behaviors.

8. The study of behavior and emotion is not a new field. Aristotle compiled a list of core emotions ages ago. The items in the list of Aristotle are: a) Anger b)Mildness c)Love d) Enmity e) Fear f) Confidence g) Shame h) Shamelessness i) Benevolence j) Pity k) Indignation l) Envy m)Emulation and n) Contempt.

9. The study of behavior without the study of underlying temperament is an exercise in futility. The list of temperaments is: a) Choleric b) Melancholy c) Supine d) Phlegmatic and e) Sanguine.

10. You cannot force changes in behavior. I should say, permanent changes to behavior probably cannot be forced. The gun to the head theory only holds true for as long as you hold the gun to the head. Once you remove the threat of harm (or negative stimulus), the behavior most likely will return.

In real estate and business, the elemental truth is simple “Location, Location, and Location.”

In behavior management, the elemental truth is similar, “documentation, documentation, and documentation.”

A friend of mine, (Bert Webb) who publishes Open Loops, a site on efficiency and effectiveness in education and business, and I have worked together on several projects designed to streamline documentation. Most of these have taken the form of fill in the blank and pop up electronic documents that greatly increase the speed with which we may record the information.

You may contact me for samples, if you wish.

11. Write out, in detail, the specific behavior that you see as the problem. Let it “cool” for 24 hours and read what you wrote. If you still consider the behavior to be a problem you should continue to the next step.

Keep in mind, temporary inconveniences, or things that will not affect your efficiency, effectiveness or growth really are not problems. In these instances, you should use what I like to call “Lincoln’s Logic.”

If Abraham Lincoln had a problem with someone’s behavior, he sat down and wrote a letter that illuminated that person’s shortcomings in great and cruel detail. He then, having gotten it off his chest, put it in a drawer to cool. If, when he read the letter 24 hours later, he still felt it was important enough to address he would take the issue up with the person.

12. In your documentation, you must be sure you are addressing the problem behavior and not the person. For example, you would not say, “Mr. Edwards is always late.” Instead, you would record, “On the dates of 4/1, 4/2, 4/3 and 4/5 Mr. Edwards arrived at 9:15. Arrival time is 9:00.”

13. Although, you may assume the person is aware there is a problem that may not be the case. At this point, you should explain your expectations to the person. In many cases making the person aware there is a problem solves the problem. Make sure you record this exchange with dates and times.

14. If the area continues to be a problem, you should develop a plan of action. Explain in detail what you expect the person to do to correct the situation.

At this point, if you are in the business community, you may be asking “why?”

The answer is money.
It is almost invariably less expensive to “grow a great employee” from what you have than it is to recruit, hire and train a new one.

If you are in education, similar elemental truths hold true. It is “better” to “grow a great student” from what you have, than it is to be miserably unhappy with what you have.

15. You must come to agreement on the plan to replace the maladaptive behavior. If both parties do not buy in to the solution, it is unlikely to be successful. Document this agreement with signatures and dates on a written plan of action.

16. There are no instant fixes. No matter what Dr. H.’Andin Urpocket tells you, there is nothing you can do that will immediately cure maladaptive behavior.

You may trust me on this one. If there were a “fix” for all behavior problems, I would have found it by now. Then I would have written a book about it and sold it on Oprah.

Anyone who tells you they have the solution to every behavior problem is telling you a lie. Nothing works in every case. Some people respond to affection. Some people respond to reason. Some people respond to inspiration. No one person has THE key to EVERYONE’S maladaptive behavior.

I have been in this field for many years. If there is one thing I have learned, it is every type of lock has a different type of key.

17. The more information you have about a person, the greatly the likelihood you will be able to influence their behavior.

Furthermore, the broader the range of information, the better it is for you. In the business community it is not only important to know how well the person “does their job.” It is also important to know how the person functions outside the work environment.

The same is true for the education field. The more data you have about your student, the greater the likelihood you will be able to effectively influence their behavior.

18. Although process and innovation driven intervention techniques are not mutually exclusive, it may be more prudent to utilize process models.

I say this for a simple reason. It is easier to justify actions taken based on the process model than it is to justify those from the innovation model.

19. You are not the first person who has had to deal with behavior management. Read everything you can find on the subject. Pick out the parts you like. Compile those parts you like into a standard strategies pack and use them.

The amount of work that has been done on motivation, responsibility, impulsivity and respect boggles the mind. Go “Google” motivation and you will get about 154,000,000 hits. The likelihood that you or I will come up with something completely new is marginal.

20. Don’t obsess. Once you have taken corrective action, give your action time to have an impact. If you do not follow this tip, the problem will no longer be about someone else. It will be about you. For years, I have taught the following guideline. “Q-TIP”
Q = quit
T = taking
I = it
P = personally

During the first twenty of these items, I have tried to offer you some of the best strategies and thinking for behavior management. For the final phase, I will list and discuss some of the most common mistakes.

21. Ineffective praise is one of the most common mistakes made in behavior management. While it is true, specific, enthusiastic praise can be a powerful tool; improper use may not only be ineffective but I consider it condescending, as well.

22. Introduction of too much fee time is another mistake. Often, we build free time into a system as a reward for productivity. Now take a moment to think about that, “free time as a reward for productivity.” Do I need to expound upon the tragedy of that logic?

The rule of thumb is if you are busy, you do not have time for problem behaviors.

23. Sarcasm is one of the most detrimental elements that you can introduce. Even if you are adept at sarcasm and all of your remarks border on the hilarious, it is a bad idea. When people are stung by sarcasm, they spend the remainder of their time sulking, or plotting their revenge in the next event allowing the exchange or witty repartee. Very little positive work gets accomplished.

24. Inconsistency can cause you monumental problems. If you plan to correct a behavior, make sure you have the energy to address it every single time. If you do not, you are better off ignoring the thing entirely.

25. You must avoid power struggles at all costs. If it is necessary for you to give a command do so. Remember to speak clearly and slowly, use a gentle touch, and make good eye contact. Then reinforce the compliance with a thank you.

None of these strategies will be productive in isolation. Absorb them all and chose the tools that fit your particular need and circumstance.

In this age of technology and precise communications we are often called on to express extremely convoluted concepts in terms which bring illumination and clarity.

As a prime example I recently hear one of my colleagues in the tech department giving over the phone instructions to and individual who was attempting to register as a participant for one of our trainings. I only heard one side of the conversation but it went something like this…..

You need to move your cursor to the top of the screen.

…Pause…

Yes, but you need to move high to the actual top of the screen.

…Pause…

Yes, I do see that section. You need to continue to move to the very top of the screen.

…Pause…

That’s true, there is an icon there. But, I need you move your cursor the the very “Tippy-Top” of the screen.

…Pause…

Yes, that’s it. Uhmm hmmm. Yes, I should have said Tippy-Top in the first place.  OK, you should be all set now. Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.

As you can clearly see, this discourse could never have come to its happy resolution without the use of the invaluable term“Tippy-Top.”

After cleaning up the milk that shot from my nose, I started thinking about some other terms that although are not mainstream are crucial to the precise levels of communication we must navigate on a daily basis.

• Bottom line -  The main or essential point: What is the bottom line of your proposal?
• Walk me through it - To guide or direct: Can you walk me through the steps?
• front desk - The reception area. Did you come through the front desk?
• jargon - Task specific slang. Have you picked up on the office jargon?
• officespeak - Terms of little value outside the realm of reference. I don’t want any officespeak after 5 Friday.
• huddling - Gathering to share idea. Marketing is huddling over the new cereal account.
• page you - Electronic summons. I’ll page you when the results come in.
• have some starbucks - coffee. Mr. Smithers is late. Have some starbucks while you wait.
• coffee station - the area where the coffee pot sits. I’ll meet you at the coffee station at 10:30.
• glitch - an unexpected minor problem. There is a glitch in the software.
• mega important - very important. Finishing this task is mega important.
• gut feeling - prediction based on experience and instinct. My gut feeling is the program will work well.
• heads will roll - people will lose their jobs. If we don’t land this account heads will roll.
• cubicle - a work area bordered with temporary partitions. Come in to my cubicle and let’s talk.
• crashed computer - a computer with a failed hard drive. Ted is depressed because he lost all his data in a crashed computer.
• geek - technology speciality. My computer is acting up. Call the geek squad.
• temp out front - temporary staff member. Ever since Suzie went on maternity leave we’ve had a temp out front.

What are some terms specific to your work situation?

One of the interesting problems of being good at what you do is that people eventually find out about it. When they do find out  you will be given ever increasing volumes of ever more challenging, work.

If you can easily manage a caseload of twenty, you will soon be managing twenty five. If you have “turned around” one marginal person, you will soon be asked to take on even more people who, although have potential, are also marginal. You will soon hear the whispered vestiges of “give me your tired, your poor, your down trodden,” rambling about in your head.

The unfortunate result is more responsibility and more challenges bring greater opportunities for error as well as success. Eventually, you will have a problem. You will have reached your level of incompetence. Now, there is no shame in reaching this level. Everyone has it. The proverbial straw must eventually reach the camel’s back.

But, let’s focus of the recovery of what should you do when the inevitable arises?

Follow these rebuilding steps.

1. Own it.
Accept responsibility. If you missed a deadline because your client spilled coffee on your preliminary report, you still missed a deadline.

2. Fix it.
If at all possible, you should correct the problem. If extra time will solve the problem, put it in. Work late, come in early, and spend some of your Saturday.

3. Shut it (your mouth).
If your client feels the need to vent, don’t argue. If your colleagues gripe, listen.

4. Don’t Promise it.
Don’t’ make promises you cannot keep. Promising it will never happen again is an example. Things happen. Accept it.

5. Apologize for it.
Saying your sorry something happened is not the same as saying it is your fault. At this point, it is not about assigning blame, it is about closure.

6. Move it.
Attack your next project with more zeal than ever before.

7. Prepare it.
If you continue to do your job well, you will continue to be given more and greater challenges. That will of course, increase the chance of your next screw-up and the cycle repeats.

Keep in mind, no matter how great you are you are not perfect. There will come a time in which you don’t reach the target you set. The key is having the presence of mind to quickly re-aquire the target and continue on with the mission.

Effective communication is arguably the most important element in the successful operation of any organization.

The Bad News:

Presenting information is one of the weakest leadership skill areas.

If you need proof, pick up the newsletter, or an interdepartmental memo from nearly any business organization.

They are full of acronyms, abbreviations and policy numbers and other indecipherable, irrelevant or inapplicable information. They are also usually 3 pages and up in length.

They are often received as attachment to emails that have been forwarded through several generations of recipients. This is true to the point that the attached memorandum is either outdated or intended to someone else entirely by the time you receive it.

Honestly, how many of these things do you actually take the time to read?

The Good News:

It is also one of the easiest skill sets to address.

If you take a logical, sequential approach, you can vastly improve your success in this area regardless of whether the information you are presenting is written or spoken aloud to a group.

Here are some standard communication guides.

• know your subject matter
• know your audience
• know your limits
• develop a theme
• prepare a script
• select your visual aids
• prepare a story board
• produce the visuals
• rehearse
• set up your environment
• follow up

Those general guides are fine, if you are used to presentations on a daily basis. I you are not, I’ve got a “no fail” set of procedures for you.

They follow this pattern:

1. Objectives
2. Materials
3. Procedures
4. Presentation
5. Evaluation/Assessment
6. Feed back/Follow-up

1. OBJECTIVE:

• Decide on the purpose for your communication and write it down.
• If you can’t write it out clearly you aren’t ready to communicate it.
• When you do write it down, keep it clear concise and to the point and if at all possible, measurable.

2. MATERIALS:

• Do a materials and equipment inventory to make sure you have the tools you need for your presentation.
• Think about things like:
• PowerPoint for laptop,
• Projection screens,
• AV devices,
• Transparencies,
• Overhead projectors,
• Extra bulbs
• Power strips
• Flip charts
• Markers
• Any hand outs or copies you might need.

3. PROCEDURES:

• How will distribute your materials?
• How will you collect your materials?
• Will you need an assistant?

4. PRESENTATION:

• How will you introduce your presentation?
• How long will you speak? The average attention span is 15 minutes?
• What tone will you take? This will be dictated by the objective of your message.
• How will you conclude your presentation?
• Have you assessed you paraverbals? A significant portion of the information we communicate to others is not contained in our words.
• Consider:
• Tone of speech (and voice)
• Rate of speech
• Volume of speech
• Fluidity of speech
• Body language
• Eye contact and
• Gestures

5. EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT:

• How will you measure the effectiveness of your presentation?

6. FEEDBACK/FOLLOW-UP:

• Make sure you have a feed back procedure to collect data from the people you are presenting to. It is often the best resource to utilize for improvements when planning your next presentation.
• I prefer to use a standardized, anonymous form which targets the key areas of communication.
• How useful was the information
• How clear was the information
• How realistic is the information
• Would you recommend the presentation to others
• What improvements could be made in the presentation

Here are some final tips and tricks.

• Don’t read to people. It is boring, irritating and demeaning.
• Don’t pass out materials during the presentation if you want the group to listen to you.
• If you plan to use a projected presentation, invest in a laser pointer.
• Learn how to set up a projection screen. I have never seen a projection screen used correctly. There is a reason the swing arm on a projection screen stand is notched. It is SUPPOSED to be used at an angle. If you have ever wondered why the material projected onto the bottom of the screen is smaller than that on the top of the screen, now you know
• Don’t try to present in a hot room, unless you are presenting on cures for insomnia.

Remember to subscribe to Elemental Truths.

Following a comment trail left by Eliezer Gonzalez (yes, I do that) on one of my recent posts led me to a pleasant discovery. On Eliezer’s site were some excellent tips for retaining clients and some very high value resource links.

One was a pdf of the Harvard Business Review issue which targeted “The Mismanagement of Customer Loyalty.” Can you imagine anything more tailored to the tenets of Elemental Truths? I can’t. I printed it and started highlighting immediately.

The second was a link to “Profitable Marketing” by Adelino de Ameida.

Here are a few of his recent posts:

• A Fail-Proof Approach for Problem Solving
• Media Mix Modeling and Optimization Use and Abuse - Limitations and What to Look For
• A Profitable Marketing Post Makes it to Mainstream Media
• Custom vs. Automated Analytics - Clarification
• Custom vs. Automated Analytics - The Lost Luggage Rule Again
• Web Analytics Definitons - Standards Hot Off the Press
• Quote of the Month - Sir Joshua Reynolds and the NPS
• An Intelligible Approach to Good Problem Solving
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Wild Elephants
• Profitable Marketing Is Now One Year Old

This looks to be a treasure trove of information and nudges toward success. I’ll be reading and watching closely. And so should you!

There you are minding your own business (literally), when in charges your worst nightmare, or your greatest opportunity depending upon how you handle it, the irate client.

What you do and say in the next 2 to 20 minutes can earn you a mortal enemy or a lifelong customer who will stay with you regardless of price change or market fluctuation.

This is the time of the fight or flight instinct. Let’s examine which of your instincts you should go with.

Bad Instinct: Become a “Deer in the headlights.” Allowing yourself to become overwhelmed by the situation is an all to common mistake. This is the result of not having a plan for possible negative contingencies.

Good Instinct: Assess the situation. Note the anxiety level of the other person. If their speech rate high, is there skin flushed, are they sweating, are they pacing? If you know this person decide if they are displaying a noticeable change in demeanor? As long as they are displaying anxiety, you must remain supportive.

Bad Instinct: Take on a superior attitude.

Good Instinct:Unless you are dealing with a child, treating someone like one is a bad idea. Even if you are dealing with a child, it isn’t the best way to go about it. At this point, you should attempt to gather as much data about the other person’s problem as you can. Question as much as you can. Remember to keep your questions information seeking and not challenging.

Bad Instinct: Refuse to negotiate.

Good Instinct: Remember EVERYTHING is negotiable. Even if you come out on the short side of one deal, what you earn in referrals and good will for repeat business will more than make up the difference.

Bad Instinct:Become insulted and indignant.

Good Instinct:Q.T.I.P.

Quit

Taking
It
Personally

Try to remember, the person is angry about the issue, not you.

Bad Instinct:Don’t follow up.

Good Instinct: After you have addressed the issue, contact the individual and thank them for giving you the opportunity to rectify there concern.

Two of the most expensive aspects of operations are the recruitment and retention of employees and the solicitation and retention of customers and clients. It only makes sense to do everything you can to maximize your effectiveness in these areas.

Reg Adkins

In the last issue I explored some of the reasons Americans are struggling financially. In this post I take a cold hard, no nonsense look at how you can be successful.

It is all about you, your idea, and your plan to capitalize on these assets.

Take the time to examine your characteristics that prove you have what it takes to succeed. Just by taking this action your demonstrate you have the temperament, personality, traits, habits and practices it takes for success.

Identify your entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses with a written list. Yes, put it in writing. Build a balance sheet of positives and negatives an start listing your traits. Don’t worry about the negatives because listing them is the first step to turning them into positives.

Begin to refine your business idea so that it will succeed. Write a narrative describing what your business looks like when it reaches the level you desire for it to operate. Write out your daily routine as chief officer of that operation. Then read it over every day.

Set the groundwork for developing a winning business plan. You can do this by calculating your net worth. Don’t fret about the immediate balances. Many have made fortunes, lost fortunes and made them again over the years. Be prepared to put in the time. Seven figures in seven years is a reasonable goal.

I’ll help any way I can.

Add Elemental Truths to your site reader.

Tell people about Elemental Truths so we can grow together.

Comment on the stories so I can learn to help you better.

If you see an advertisement and decide to take advantage of an interesting offer, Great! Tell me about it so I can share it with others!

Why are tens of millions of Americans putting in more hours than ever before and yet still facing financial struggles?

The latest data from the US Census shows that wages continue to drop and more people are existing without health insurance.

Two of the reasons for this are tremendous upsurges in the buyout industry and manipulation of interest rates by folks like Bank of America. It has become the norm in America that more goes to profits than to wages. U.S. workers are putting in more hours than ever before and yet they are still falling financially behind.

As a result, more Americans than ever before are making the shift into independent business ownership. Those of my generation (born between the years of 1956 and 1964), the “boomers” have become known for the trend that they are operating more businesses than any since the industrial revolution.

What can you do to protect your “American Dream?’

1. Stay informed
2. Be alert for business opportunities
3. Seek out personal growth opportunities
4. Seek out professional growth opportunities
5. Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail.

Warning the next paragraph is a blatant incident of self promotion. 

If you are reading this post and you haven’t added Elemental Truths to your blogline reader, please do so. If you are reading Elemental Truths and you find you don’t agree with me, please say so. If your are reading and you find you do agree with me, please say so. If you think I’m headed east in the west bound land, please say so. 

Reg Adkins writes on professional and personal development as well behavior and the human experience at www.elementaltruths.com

Do you know what your options are when you don’t receive fair value?

I conduct trainings and presentations . Also, like many Americans of my generation, I do not live and work in the region where I grew up. As a result I do quite a bit of domestic and some international travel.

I differ from many of my ilk in the respect that I try and bring my wife, two daughters and dog along on as much of my weekend travel as possible. That means the places I lodge and dine are family focused. Basically, the lower end of a moderate budget.

By and large, I would have to say that the service and accommodations I encounter are adequate. Not stellar, not abysmal, simply adequate. Basically, you get what you pay for.

But, what if you don’t?

I am a member of a travel club (AAA). I make as much use of the benefits of that membership as I can. Travel planning in regards to route mapping is very important to me. But, I also rely on my travel club to provide an accurate evaluation of the accommodations and services which they endorse. Sometimes, a stinker slips through that rating system.

When that happens you really do have options other than “shut up and take it.”

Phase 1

1. Be prepared to take some pictures.
2. Be prepared to explain to the service provider exactly what is unacceptable.
3. Be prepared to explain to the service provider what would be acceptable in its place.
4. Be prepared to be initially rebuffed.
5. Be prepared to politely ask to speak with a supervisor.
6. Be prepared to restate you position.

What if you still don’t get satisfaction?

Phase 2

1. Write out your complaint and your desired remedy.
2. USE the comment forms most services provide.
3. AND submit an online feedback if possible.
4. Be patient, bureaucracy takes time.

Phase 3

1. If you use a travel club let them know about your experience and request they update their data.

Don’t feel like you are whining when you ask for the value you pay for. I Think about it this way; I provide training, counseling and coaching on a lot of different fronts. If I ever don’t provide the value my clients feel they deserve, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT. It is only fair to provide those who provide services to me with the same courtesy.