Drop everything right now and click onto www.thefuntheory.com. 3 minutes invested now might save you way more later.
“This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.”
Doesn’t this idea make you sit up and pay attention?!
My personal favourite is the piano key stairs.
The concept starts with a simple hypothesis ripe for testing. “Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator and feel better” is something we intellectually know is the ‘right’ thing to do on a number of levels. However, few people actually follow that advice. Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do? The theory was tested in a subway station at Odenplan, Stockholm with very compelling results.
66% more people than normal chose the stairs over the escalator.
So what’s the implication then for getting results from training?
Well, we all know the more fun people have at training the more they learn. And it’s the same with follow-up coaching. If the participant enjoys both the process and the behaviour change brought by the training and follow-up, so much better the results.
Highlighting consequences and creating pain can have some impact. But the real key is to connect into the positive. Punishing yourself into changing a behaviour makes very hard work of getting desired results and as a coach it can create reliance and a policing attitude.
Think about how you are approaching behavioural change both for yourself and your team. In what ways are you making it fun and how could you do more of this?