Very interesting article.

I wonder though …

I believe that these types of rules or guidelines fall into something I’ll refer to as observational psychology. The art of positioning people on some scale of behavior that allows us to gain some predictions into how they will act under certain conditions. This would explain all the tests given to police recruits, firemen, soldiers and the like.

In an analogous way, the sort of thing we do when strolling down the aisle at the supermarket. We read the list of ingredients on the packages, to see if the food will benefit us. Provide us with the good calories we need or just the sweetness we crave.

Knowing what motivates people is essential. Knowing what will make them reach for higher levels of performance is vital and potentially very profitable. I guess it’s profiling the workplace and those that populate it, so that fewer and less costly mistakes are made. And frankly, there’s nothing wrong in this at all.

It just seems like half the process. Knowing a person will go Left or Right is obviously useful. But how does one effectively change the outcome? If going Left (whatever that might mean) would indicate a lack of effort on one person’s part, but not a lack of ability or potential — how do we swing them over to the other side?

Sorting through a populace in this way will ultimately get us the team members we want or think will fulfill the roles we have for them. But what if …? What if the people who do not immediately fit the role, pass the test or otherwise seem suitable — right now, still have the capacity to do the work? And maybe even better than those that are ready now. What do we do with them.

Sports are filled with stories of people who seemed locked into failure and yet, through the correct actions of observant personnel (coaches and such) were able to get “retooled” and made better as a result. Indicating that skills, ability and potential can be mined, even if not immediately accessible.

I’ve met many motivational speakers over my lifetime and found them very skilled at removing a person — temporarily - from the constraints imposed on them by themselves, thus allowing them to reach a little further. But almost one for one, none were able to dig deeper and change them on a structural level, so that the change in them lasted more than a month or so.

Just thinking out loud here. 😉