Do You Know the One Sure Way to Change Behavior? The Power of Daily Questions

Do You Know the One Sure Way to Change Behavior? The Power of Daily Questions

CHANGING BEHAVIOR: Many of us are frustrated with changing behavior: our own or that of those we lead. One of the most effective ways to make sure that a change sticks is that of daily questions. I have my colleague Marshall Goldsmith to thank for this simply yet powerful technique. He has encouraged those of us who have been his grateful students over the years to employ this tool.

WHY BEHAVIOR CHANGE MATTERS: We may focus on changing vague standards such as attitude or respect. These are useful ideals but they will not really move the needle unless we bring our concerns down to daily behavior: things we can actually do or say. In addition, unless we focus on those concerns on a daily basis, we are likely to lose track in the undertow of daily life.

ACCOUNTABILITY: We need to focus on accountability. It is far too easy to delude ourselves into thinking that we are making progress when we are not. Instead, if we (or those we manage) focus on letting at least one other person know about what we have actually done on a daily basis, change is much more likely. For more suggestions about changing behavior, go to www.workplacesthatwork.com.

What Should You Do?

FOCUS ON EFFORT DAILY: The daily questions focus on effort, not accomplishment nor a “to do” list. Use the format of: did I do my best today to …., and then grade yourself (or have your staff member grade themselves) on a scale of 1-10. Goldsmith sometimes uses as many as 17 daily questions. I find that too unwieldy for most of us; I recommend at least five, but not more than ten to the executives we coach.

FIND AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER: Most of us find it harder to lie to someone else than to mislead ourselves. Recruit someone – ideally, not someone you work with – to schedule a daily short call (ten minutes or less) – to listen to your progress. The emphasis here should be on listening: their job is not to give advice, feedback, or criticism.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS: You can keep track of your progress over weeks or months by using an Excel spreadsheet or even the Goldsmith app. Go to Marshall Goldsmith’s website for more tools and explanations of the process.

CHEER ON THOSE YOU LEAD: You can encourage those you lead to use daily questions to change any behavior you (or they) believe needs to be improved. You can model the tool for them and help them track their growth as you give them feedback on various performance issues. Just be sure that you are actually focusing on observable behavior, what they are doing – or not doing – as opposed to attitudes or beliefs. We never really know what is in someone’s heart or mind (and for some people, it is way too scary in there!) but we do know what we observe by their words and actions.

What Do You Think?

Have you tried the tool of daily questions? Contact us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com