Lessons From British (1985-1999)

Lessons From British (1985-1999)
By
Mitch Carnell

Bringing in the newspaper every morning was British’s favorite activity. Even when he was 14 years old and suffering from crippling arthritis he still loved to do it.

I taught him to do this when he was just a pup. He was a quick learner. Every morning we would go out to get the paper. I would put it in his young mouth, praise him highly as he pranced tail wagging toward the door, gave him a small treat in exchange for the paper and heaped lavish praise upon him.

Soon he was bringing in so many papers that my neighbors were getting upset. "British is reading our paper more often than we are."

When I came home from work he would greet me with a paper - any paper. British responded to praise. He thrived on small rewards. He knew what his job was and he did it with pride. He lived to please.

How did British become such an outstanding performer? First, he was given a clear picture of the task he was to perform. Second, he was given adequate supervision. Third, he was given lavish praise every step of the way. Praise was not withheld until he was a perfect performer. Fifth, he was rewarded for a job well done.

What about when he became over zealous and wanted to work overtime harvesting the newspapers from all of our neighbors? This was not a worker problem, but a management problem. Management had not anticipated such an eager worker. The worker was doing the job he had been trained to do. As happens so often. Management had failed to spell out his area of responsibility.

Workers should not be penalized because management failed to anticipate the success of its training program. I built a fence to indicate his area of responsibility. Employees need to know just what they are responsible for and how far their area of authority extends.

With his success, British took on a new responsibility. He proudly brought in the mail. He took great pride in doing it. He seemed literally to smile as cars would slow to let their passengers get a better look at this mail-carrying dog. He seemed to know that he was seen as a role mode for other neighborhood dogs.

On those rare occasions when some transgression called for a reprimand, he was heart broken. His whole demeanor changed. He was confused. He did not know what was expected of him and where he had failed. When shown the correct behavior he quickly adopted the new pattern.

If you adopt the management strategies advocated by British, you will be on your way to a much more successful and productive working environment. Employees respond to clear directions, good training, adequate supervision, appropriate rewards and genuine timely praise.