TipsForSuccess: April 2010

TipsForSuccess: You Get What You Reward

You Get What You Reward

Imagine you own a gift shop and two sales people work for you: Jill and Susan.

Jill is attractive and cheerful. She dresses well and enjoys her work. She is very social and loves to chat with customers.

Susan does not dress as well as Jill. She does not chat with customers, but is constantly busy. She likes to arrange the gift displays, fill out inventory forms and stock the shelves.

You decide to spend more time at home and need a manager for your gift shop. Your friend says, "Jill is the best choice for the manager. She dresses well and enjoys chatting with customers. Everyone likes her best!"

You still can't decide between Jill or Susan. So you check the computer and find Jill's sales have been dropping for the past several weeks. Perhaps she spends too much time chatting with customers.

Susan's sales statistic is going up each week. In fact, even though she doesn't dress as well as Jill, she is selling twice as many gifts as Jill.

Who should you promote to the manager position?

Rewards and Penalties

"WHEN YOU REWARD DOWN STATISTICS AND PENALIZE UP STATISTICS YOU GET DOWN STATISTICS.

"If you reward nonproduction you get nonproduction.

"We award production and up statistics and penalize nonproduction and down statistics. Always.

"Also we do it all by statistics--not rumor or personality or who knows who." -- L. Ron Hubbard

As you probably know, if you reward Jill with the promotion, your sales will drop. Everyone will stand around looking good and chatting all day.

If you reward Susan with the promotion, your gift sales will increase. People buy gifts with Susan. She makes statistics go up. With Susan in charge, you make more profit.

Unfair Management

Employees complain loudest when they are treated unfairly, especially when they are rewarded or penalized because of their personality or appearance. For example, unfair managers reward people because of their age, their automobiles or their political beliefs. Unfair managers penalize people because of their accents, skin colors or body sizes.

Other examples:

Bob is made Vice President of Sales because he plays golf with the company founder each weekend.

A manufacturing company has 16 women and 25 men working on its assembly line. They all do the same job, but the men earn 15% higher pay.

Because Pete has been working at the company for ten years, he gets $25 per hour. Chris gets twice as much work done as Pete, but because he has worked there for just two years, he is only paid $18 per hour.

Fair Management

If a business only rewards people with up statistics, the best people stay with the company and the losers soon quit. Everyone has a fair chance to succeed. The business becomes more productive and profitable.

If you work for such a company, you have more opportunities. As long as you produce more than average on a long-term basis, you get more pay, more respect and fewer hassles. You can even show up late once in a while without anyone even mentioning it.

No one would dream of firing you as you are making the company successful.

Other examples:

Sally is made Vice President of Sales because her sales team has beaten their sales quota every quarter for five years.

The basket company gives its basket makers $6 per hour plus ten cents per basket. The fast basket makers earn $20 per hour. Slow basket makers earn $7 per hour. It does not matter if you are male or female, old or young. You control your pay.

You are part of a hard-working productive team. Your team shows a profit increase for the company for the year. All members in the team receive a $1,000 bonus at the end of the year.

Recommendations

1. Select a statistic you want to increase.

Examples: You want to lose weight. You want your typist to type 50 reports each day. You want your son to get better test scores in school.

2. Agree with or announce a reward if the statistic goes up and a penalty if it goes down.

"If I lose five pounds this month, I get to go to a movie. If I gain a pound or more, I have to clean out the garage."

"Jenny, I have a deal for you. If you type 50 reports in a day, you get a $20 bonus. If your statistic drops below 40 reports in a day, you agree to contribute $10 to the coffee fund. Is it a deal?"

"Son, if you get a score of 95 or higher on all of your tests this month, you get those new shoes you want. But, if your scores drop below 85, you have to clean out the garage. Okay?"

3. Reward or penalize appropriately.

"I gained two pounds. No movie for me! Time to clean the garage."

"Congratulations Jenny! You typed 50 reports today. Here's your $20 bonus!"

"Son, great job on your test scores of 96! Let's go get those shoes!"

Give it a try!

Bonus Tip: How to Get Your Boss To Use this Principle

If your boss is unfair, how do you get him or her to treat you more fairly? One way is to simply mention this principle. You may start a chain of events that leads to a fairer workplace. For example, "If I get more done this month than anyone has gotten done on this job before, can I have a $250 bonus?" "If we double our sales this month, will you give us all a paid day off?"

If your boss is smart, he or she will love the idea of rewarding production. Add a penalty for poor production and he or she may faint from joy. If your boss dislikes these ideas, it may be time for you to find a new boss.

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

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TipsForSuccess: Foolish Love

Foolish Love

When you're in love, the whole world sings with you. Or does it?

Let's say a young couple falls in love. All day long, they think about each other. If they are apart, they constantly talk or send messages to each other. A beautiful obsession.

But one day, one of them wants to spend time alone with a friend. Jealousy flies into the picture. One feels trapped and the other feels abandoned. They argue and fight. No one is happy.

Compare this couple to a pair who have been married for 25 years. This couple feels admiration and respect for each other. They spend time apart with no one feeling jealous. They are both happy.

"Admiration betokens* in itself a kind of respect. It borders on liking, admiring. It's a much, much better word than love.

"Love all too often is a compulsive passion which devours the very young."

"They don't even see the person to whom they have attached their sentiment. They don't even know that person is there. They're ‘in love!'"

"A thing which is loved has to be trapped and caged, and a thing which is admired is a thing which you would like to see free." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*betokens: a sign or indicator of something.)

If you are obsessed with your mate, move up to feelings of admiration before it's too late.

If you wish to add new life to your relationship, look for new ways to admire your mate. Make it okay in your mind for him or her to be free and happy without you. Increase your respect for this person.

See for yourself that deep admiration and sincere respect results in two, very happy people.

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

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TipsForSuccess: More Control, Less Stress

How to Have More Control and Less Stress

On your road to success, you can sometimes feel overwhelmed and out of control.

For example, you are not making enough money to pay your bills. Maybe your work is not going very well. You feel desperate. You cannot relax.

As another example, you want to succeed as a parent. You want your children to grow up to be happy, healthy and valuable to society. But your kids won't talk to you. Your son is failing in school and your daughter is dating a gangster. You feel angry or confused.

When your work is stressful, you are not in control of something. Perhaps people push you around. Maybe you have doubts about what you do. You probably worry about disasters.

So instead of continuing to be overwhelmed, you can make one simple change to turn things around.

"A WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR CONTROL OR ANOTHER'S IS TO DO IT ON A GRADIENT*." -- L. Ron Hubbard (gradient: a series of steps that gradually increase in size or difficulty)

Simple, obvious and powerful! Instead of trying to control the entire problem, you select one small part of the problem and take control of it.

For example, if you wish to fly an airplane, you do not sit in the cockpit, start the engine and head down the runway. You would lose control. Instead, you do it on a gradient.

You watch someone else fly the plane. You flip one switch for the pilot. You use a simulator. You control small pieces and then larger pieces of the plane. Eventually, you can fly an airplane.

Any difficulty you face can be controlled, if you use gradient steps.

Bullies

You can increase your control of difficult people. For example, let's say your office manager is a bully. He likes to criticize you. He blows up at the strangest times. He screams at anyone who crosses him. You are afraid to confront him.

So to take control of this bully, you control one small thing. "Excuse me Joe, will you hand me the Peterson file? Thanks."

Perhaps you control a few other small things, such as controlling his hand by handing him a pen. "Here's your pen Joe."

Later, you control a slightly larger thing. "Joe, can we talk about this in five minutes? Thanks." You are increasing the gradient of difficulty. "If you don't mind, can we talk about the Petersons now? Great."

Next, you control one of the office manager's angry outbursts. Joe says, "You stupid idiot! How many times do I need to tell you to call John Peterson?" You say, "Do you want me to be afraid of you or tell you the news about John Peterson?" Joe calms down.

You may not control Joe every time you try, but you soon control him more often than you do not control him. Everyone in the office admires how you can handle Joe, including Joe. You are taking control of him on a gradual, gradient basis.

Tough Projects

You cannot actually "do a project." You can only do one action step within a project. If you do enough action steps, you finish the project.

If you feel frustrated because you cannot reach a goal or finish a project, you need to look at the smaller picture. You must focus on one single step you can control now.

Let's say you want to double your income. You write down, "Goal: Double My Income." You then clench your fists and say, "I'm going to get out there now and make more money!" But then you feel overwhelmed. Your gradient is too steep.

Instead, pick one step of the project and control it.

For example, you organize your bills. You make a list of potential income sources. You make five sales calls. You work as fast as you can for one hour. You learn a new skill.

You just take control of one step at a time.

Recommendations

1. Write down three difficulties in your life.

2. For each difficulty, figure out one action step that you can control.

3. Take control of this one piece and get it done.

4. Repeat step 1-3 until you feel in control.

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

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TipsForSuccess: Giving and Receiving Help

Giving and Accepting Help Is Vital to Your Success

"It now appears that Help is the make-break point between sanity and insanity." -- L. Ron Hubbard

You can have many problems regarding the subject of help, two of which are:

1. Fear of being helped

2. Frustration when trying to help others

The second problem occurs with doctors, consultants, accountants, teachers, church leaders, attorneys, counselors, employers, employees, family members and others. You try to help people, but they reject your help.

For example, if you are wealthy, your friends and family members might ask you for loans. But if you are smart, instead of giving loans, you offer a better form of help: financial education.

Successful investors want others to make money through investments. They agree with the ancient Chinese advice, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Whenever these investors' family and friends accept this help, they also become wealthy. However, sometimes, they reject this help. They say, "Investing is too hard" or "It's too risky" or "I don't have the time."

Physicians also have this problem. They tell patients to stop smoking, eat more vegetables and exercise. Patients often reject this helpful advice and just want drugs. In fact, some patients change doctors if they don't get the drugs they want.

You might know several ways to help people with your advice. And when people will not listen to your advice, you probably feel frustrated. You might even give up on giving help. You might say, "To heck with them!" "They don't deserve my help." "I'm too good for them."

If the frustration gets worse, you might even feel a little crazy. You cross over the make-break point between sanity and insanity!

Another reason people dislike help is when they are betrayed.

Help Becomes Betrayal

You trust someone and then they stab you in the back. They betray you and so you stop trusting them. If enough people betray you, you decide to not trust anyone.

As a result, when people say they can help you, you immediately worry they cannot be trusted.

Betrayal, disguised as help, is common in this society. For example, you hear someone is depressed and so goes to a psychiatrist for help. A few weeks later, they are either taking a psychiatric drug or feeling more depressed than ever. You learn a lesson. If you feel depressed, do not seek help!

Con artists take advantage of you by pretending to offer help. "I know how you can double your money in one month! You can't lose!"

A few weeks later, the con artist, and your investment, are history.

Business owners often feel damaged by employees they trust. "Don't worry boss, you can count on me!" Employees often feel the same way about business owners. "I'll give you a raise as soon as the company is doing better."

If you are betrayed too often, the world seems against you. You feel alone.

You tend to stop people, including yourself, from pursuing a brighter future. You discourage risk. You criticize new ideas. You feel afraid of change.

Yet you can't give up! You can't close the door to possibilities. You can't lose hope.

Hope

Even if you have been betrayed, you can and should trust most people anyway.

Most people have good intentions. Most people enjoy helping you. Most people are not evil.

The small percentage of people you cannot trust are easy to identify. You just need to know the signs of the anti-social personality. Check out www.tipsforsuccess.org/antisocial1.htm for details.

Seven Healthy Attitudes about Help

1. Rejecting help does not improve your life, but closes the door to opportunities.

2. Being too "proud" to accept help has nothing to do with pride and everything to do with past betrayals.

3. Too much self-reliance or self-dependence limits your success. Being an island burns you out.

4. Seeking help does not mean you have failed, but is a sign of intelligence.

5. Depending on people is healthy and vital to your long-term success. Everyone who is famous, wealthy or wildly successful proudly admits they had a great deal of help. No one succeeds on their own.

6. People are basically good. Most of them have good intentions. They are worthy of your help.

7. Freely giving help and freely accepting help are signs of sanity. Both are essential to your success.

Recommendations

If giving or receiving help is not easy for you, deliberately do the following two steps every day.

1. Find a way to receive help from someone.

2. Find a way to help someone.

After one week, notice how you feel.

Keep giving and receiving more and more help until you are enjoying more success. You will also feel great!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

TipsForSuccess: You Get What You Reward

TipsForSuccess: Foolish Love

TipsForSuccess: More Control, Less Stress

TipsForSuccess: Giving and Receiving Help

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