Carrot or stick

16 Sep 2024 . petso . Comments #management #dogs

I’ve become aware through working with dogs that both a carrot and stick can be effective in getting a pack to perform a certain way. The carrot illustrating how easy it is to train a dog when you have a treat. The stick illustrates the part we aim to become comfortable with. As much as a puppy wants to use teeth on our skin, or grab the leash and sprint towards traffic, a stick works along with the treat.

Now don’t think I just said beat a dog. I’m talking about an illustration, that when you have a dog you should understand that both are necessary to get the behavior you want. Treats in rewards, and when it is necessary firm, quick, painless reproach that reinforces their reward for the opposite. The longer uncorrected, the harder the stick needs to be applied.

If you find yourself negative, reach for a carrot to spice it up. Criticism can have significantly more impact than positive feedback. However, wounds fester if not treated, and criticism needs to be available in suitable contexts.

To achieve Radical Candor you need to avoid manipulative insincerity and obnoxious aggression. The key in giving feedback is to care personally while challenging directly.

It isn’t that different with dogs. You know when they are hungry and they only push the limits when you don’t care that they need to run. Work sometimes gets in the way, but in the end we both think its worth it.

Modeling Behavior

Whether with a dog or with a team, it often is easier to model the desired behavior rather than using words to command them. When one dog shows another the behavior, whether praised or treated will get the other dog to understand.

Demonstrating a desired behavior is reinforcement itself. Your team will align on the norm but it isn’t up to any one member to edict the behavior, but instead make visible the benefits of that behavior, and allow the team to pick behaviors which benefit the team.

One false narrative of the modeling behavior method will deter you is when the team norms drifting towards allowing one member to pick up the slack if they model the behavior. Two important things to remember when fighting this. One, the goals of the team are aligned with your work, don’t worry about anyone else. Two, even a dysfunctional team can be led to succeed just hold firm and model the expected behaviors.

Ending play

With dogs there’s the advantage of having a privilege they enjoy and when you see the behavior you want play can be a reward, and when play gets aggressive you can end play to use a positive thing to reinforce against a negative.

With developers that’s harder. You can’t quantify what they like or don’t and when we allow a team member to solve problems (if that’s their play) taking it away (assigning different work) comes only with privilege. We don’t get the privilege to take away the work someone enjoys very often, and using tactics to get people to do what we want is a hard road to maintain. Especially if they become the wiser to it.

Communication

I for one prefer being treated like a person, who is able to take direct feedback and try to incorporate that in my continual improvement cycles. If we aren’t looking for ways to grow personally, direction on how to act will lay on deaf ears. The individual who isn’t growing is shrinking and only way to keep up with the inflation of expectations is improvement.

Fostering healthy communication over being lax or intense is the only healthy solution. Otherwise someone feels like a dog.