Weekly Psyche

Looking for the reinforcer – that’s what we do as parents, teachers, caregivers and leaders of industry: CEO’s and CFO’s. We look for the reinforcer. It was interesting sitting at a meeting with individuals that all earn over six figures a year, a group of them. The management was discussing a higher performance and a higher success and I asked them: “what do you think would motivate you to want to do something different, to do more, to produce more?” Two of them stood up: “we like the envelope board!”

The envelope board is a cork board, that everybody has in their house somewhere, where they post messages or pin a picture. In this case, they pin sealed envelopes, and each sealed envelope has a different amount of money. As each salesperson produces something extra, however we define it, they’re able to go to the cork board and choose any envelope of mystery that they want. They strive to achieve their next goal in order to participate in the mystery of chance. As they produce something ‘extra’, their behavior is reinforced. (more…)

Today I want to talk about fiefdoms, old ladies and gossip. Those are usually very important tribal ingredients that keep the activity of the human being alive. A fiefdom is a medieval term in which rulers would gather power structure around them, usually by developing a certain number of solders or knights and rent out his land to individuals who would pay him back in the amount of food that they make. They were called serfs.

Each one of these powerful kings or kingdoms was called a fiefdom and there were many. Whole countries would be broken into fiefdoms. That’s how countries were ruled before they became one united nation. It is still a power structure in which individuals, principals of schools or large institutions, rule other people. They go in and form alliances with specific individuals in management and then they gather information on an ongoing basis on other people in which to manage behind the lines. This is called fiefdom management. It’s interesting to watch people manage in this particular style as we observe schools and institutions. (more…)