Notes about "Whale Done"
Presented in a Story-telling fashion.
Illustrates the journey of 'Wes', a troubled managerial type who is frustrated by his inability to manage employees.
See's a Sea World show and meets a trainer who illuminates him to a Positive Reinforcement technique for training whales
"One thing we learned quickly was that it doesn't much make sense to punish a Killer Whale and then ask a trainer to go get into the water with it"
Wes is then introduced to a Coach/Motivational speaker (Anne Marie), who continues to illustrate the concepts with more story-telling.
The core concept in this method seems to be building a relationship with your client/employee/student/loved one that is built on positive reinforcement, and building a positive relationship
ABC's of Performance
A = Activator
Presented in a Story-telling fashion.
Illustrates the journey of 'Wes', a troubled managerial type who is frustrated by his inability to manage employees.
See's a Sea World show and meets a trainer who illuminates him to a Positive Reinforcement technique for training whales
"One thing we learned quickly was that it doesn't much make sense to punish a Killer Whale and then ask a trainer to go get into the water with it"
Wes is then introduced to a Coach/Motivational speaker (Anne Marie), who continues to illustrate the concepts with more story-telling.
The core concept in this method seems to be building a relationship with your client/employee/student/loved one that is built on positive reinforcement, and building a positive relationship
ABC's of Performance
A = Activator
Whatever gets performance going
B = Behavior
The performance that occurs
C = Consequence
Your response to the performance
Your response to performance is the most important key
There are four kinds of consequences:
The key to this method is positive responses, or when not reasonable, redirection:
PRAISE PROGRESS "It's a moving target"
Whale-done approach uses encouragement (calls is ATTA-boy/girl) and always coaching criticisms with praise:
As opposed to 'Gotchaa' method of calling attention only when there is an error
The book highlights the tendancy for managers, parents and teachers to only give attention to negative behaviors. The suggestion is not to ignore these behaviors, but to take the time to redirect negative behaviors.
In a teaching setting (or management) this can be done eloquently by accepting blame as the teacher manager ("I'm sorry, I didn't make this clear enough - could you do x.y.z.).
It is then essential to follow up with praise when they are on task or progressing
Your response to performance is the most important key
There are four kinds of consequences:
- No response
- Negative response
- Redirection
- Positive response
The key to this method is positive responses, or when not reasonable, redirection:
- Describe the error or problem as soon as possible, clearly and without blame
- Show its negative impact
- If appropriate, take the blame for not making the task clear
- Go over the task in detail and make sure it is clearly understood.
- Express your continuing trust and confidence in the person
PRAISE PROGRESS "It's a moving target"
Whale-done approach uses encouragement (calls is ATTA-boy/girl) and always coaching criticisms with praise:
- Praise people immediately
- Be specific about what they did right or almost right
- Share your positive feelings about what they did
- Encourage them to keep up the good work
As opposed to 'Gotchaa' method of calling attention only when there is an error
The book highlights the tendancy for managers, parents and teachers to only give attention to negative behaviors. The suggestion is not to ignore these behaviors, but to take the time to redirect negative behaviors.
In a teaching setting (or management) this can be done eloquently by accepting blame as the teacher manager ("I'm sorry, I didn't make this clear enough - could you do x.y.z.).
It is then essential to follow up with praise when they are on task or progressing
