
Dogs…I absolutely love my two dogs. When someone comments that I have dog hair on my clothes, I tell them that it’s an accessory to my outfit. I once had a friend come over to my house, sit on the couch, and immediately complain that she was covered in dog hair. My response? “Yeah, you’re in Mitch’s seat.” Of course, every dog has a very specific combination of characteristics that makes him/her a unique companion; overall demeanor, breed-specific traits, mannerisms….hair. But as varied as all dogs are from one another, the one consistency between them all (other than that they are all dogs) is that they DROOL!
My little Chi drools when he is exploring the backyard; my Shepard drools in the car on his way to doggie day camp. Yes, my dog goes to day camp…go ahead and judge me. But how exactly do dogs relate to this industry? Technically, they don’t…but since I love dogs and like to talk about them whenever I get the chance, I figured I could work in a good dog analogy to make my A/E/C point. So get comfortable and break out your psychology books! It’s time for a lesson…
The Psychology of Signals
It all started in the 1800’s with a guy named Ivan Pavlov, a loyal dog enthusiast just like me. Both a scientist and physiologist, Pavlov was amazed by his observation that dogs would instantly drool when food was about to be served to them. He was so fascinated in fact, that he conducted a study on drool. Now that’s a good dog owner! The study was simple; Pavlov connected test tubes to a dog’s mouth just below the salivary gland (no dogs were harmed in this study…I googled it). After a series of repetitions, the food response was paired with a signal (often attributed to a bell). He would ring the bell, present a plate of food and then wait for the dog to start drooling. After a short period of time, Pavlov would ring the bell and the dog would automatically begin to drool regardless of whether food was being served or not. Salivating had become an involuntary response to hearing the signal. Colloquially known as “Pavlov’s Law” (or “conditional reflex” in scientific circles), this was Pavlov’s most famous work.
Involuntary Wagging
“Your company was chosen for the project!” Ahhh…these words are music to a marketer’s ears. When you hear these words, does your heart begin to pound? Are you overwhelmed by a sense of pride? Does a permanent grin become irrevocably plastered across your face? Do you start involuntarily wagging your tail? It’s a high, right? And the high that marketers get from a win is the very reason that we work long hours, countless weekends, and sacrifice fun for the satisfaction of winning. If you said no, then you can stop reading right now. But if you said yes, then you may have a lot more in common with Pavlov’s dogs than you think!
Now, before you get bent out of shape for being compared to a dog, please hear me out. Just as the bell was the signal for Pavlov’s dogs to start drooling with the anticipation of food, “you won” is the signal for marketers to start bustin’ their tails (pun intended). As marketers, we thrive on the anticipation of a win. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed every morning. Dog hears bell, he thinks food; marketer hears “go,” we think WIN! Even if there isn’t food at the end of the bell or a win at the end of the RFQ process, we will work tirelessly on a proposal or interview/ presentation just for the thrill of it.
“Click - chicken liver - good boy!”
So how might a marketer apply Pavlov’s Law in A/E/C? In essence, you can start training your technical staff using “conditional reflex” techniques…just like you would with your dog! Seriously, we could learn a thing or two from Pavlov. Let’s say that you are prepping your team for a project interview, but you have a project manager on the team who holds a deep disdain for interviewing, absolutely refuses to prepare, and gets overly discouraged when he can’t “find” his words. What do you do as the quintessential marketer? Get out your clicker and start giving treats!Really…
I taught my dog everything he knows with a clicker, chicken livers and a high-pitched “good boy.” The same can go for your project manager and project team members (to a certain extent). Because both dogs AND humans can be trained to react to signals and positive reinforcement, here are a few tips on training your project manager to tread the scary waters of interview prep.
- Click (= Cues): Start by giving your team members non-verbal cues when they do or say something fabulousduring interview prep. It doesn’t have to be anything too crazy; you don’t want to distract them. Giving a simple thumbs-up or a head shake can accomplish quite a bit in terms of morale and encouragement. Much like the feeling that you get when you find out “you’ve won,” so too will your project manager feel with the reinforcement of your positive visual cues. This is your “clicker.”
- Chicken Liver (= Rewards): Let’s be honest; it’s hard for anyone to listen to the same presentation over and over again. As the team lead, you need to recognize when your team is just And if you know what to look for, you’ll find that you team will actually give you signals. I learned that my Shepard’s limit was when he started to whine after sit number 735 during a 60-minute class. He was bored and from what I could tell, he was pretty confident that he had mastered sitting on his butt. The same principal goes for your team! So never schedule an entire afternoon of interview preparation. I recommend two hours TOPS with at least two run-throughs. After that, your team should get “homework” on items they need to focus on. Give the homework with the promise that if they practice on their own, then they can get out of “class” early the next day. When you reconvene, 99% of the time they will nail it! Why? Because you’ve recognized their limits and you know what they need to work on...and THEY know that if they do their homework, that they will be rewarded with only an hour of prep the next day. Make them work for that “chicken liver!”
- “Good Boy” (= Positive Energy): There was a time not too long ago when I was running really late for a dog training class. I just got lost. But by the time we made it to class, I was totally on edge and Mitch refused to work for me. My trainer kicked us out of class and told me that Mitch wasn’t going to learn anything that day. Essentially, he was feeding off my negative energy. What a “pet mom” fail!
The same thing can happen with your team; they will feed off of your energy, whether good or bad. So if you are distracted (like if you are working on your computer or checking your phone as they run through their presentation), then they won’t have any good energy to keep going. Don’t be surprised when your team stares blankly back at you towards the end of presentation training when you try to give them feedback. They won’t have retained a dang thing! So put your phone down, make some eye contact, and sit up in your chair. BAM!!! Your good energy will provide instant energy for all. “Click - chicken liver - good boy!”
Even if you don’t drool on yourself when you win (hey, if you do then I won’t tell) and your project manager doesn’t like being trained like one of Pavlov’s pooches, I’m pretty sure that you can see the correlation between signals and positive reinforcement, regardless of whether you’re a human or one of our furry friends. Now, if only there was a way to train our bosses to give us a raise every time s/he heard “you won.” I’ll tap into my inner Pavlov and let you know how that works out. Now go home and appreciate your dog’s drool!
About the Blogger: When not serving as President of SMPS Arizona or developing a strategy to win the next project for Concord, Grenee Celuch, CPSM can usually be found having her patience and her stubbornness put to the test by her German Shepherd. After countless years and hours of instruction, she finally realized 5% of dog training is for the dog and 95% is for the human. She credits her two dogs with teaching her how to jump for joy when excited, that snuggling and wet kisses can cancel out bad days, and that we should all learn to stop and smell the roses from time to time.
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