Really, it’s not you it’s me…

One of  the things that is consistently tossed around in the incentive and performance improvement industry is the fact that the "new kids" that make up the participant base don’t get it.  I’m hearing that the programs being run don’t work on them – they want instant, they want choice, they want freedom.  What’s wrong with an online catalog?  Why do they need real-time standings updates – and on their phone?!  How can we communicate with them if they spam block my program emails?

Well, just maybe its not them.

On the Manage To Change blog is this short post – it’s a quick read but it captures this issue exactly.

To quote Ann Michael from the post…

At
a recent parent teacher conference with my son’s Science teacher, I happened to
notice that the best overall grade in the class was a 76.  There were another
two passing grades and every other student was failing!

Out
of 16 students 3 (20%) were passing.

I
asked the teacher about class performance. 

“This
is a really bad group of kids.  I’m not doing anything differently than I have
for the past 28 years and I’ve never had this happen before.  I know it’s not
me.”

You
haven’t changed your approach for 28 years and you consider yourself blameless?

She then goes on to tell another story of how a panelist at a presentation on Web 2.0 applications was monitoring "tweets" (twitter messages) and adjusted the presentation in real-time based on the input from the audience.

Bottom line – if something isn’t working, don’t assume you’re right. 

Sometimes, sometimes – it’s not them… it is you.

Check in with your target audiences, listen and respond.  It’s time for a wholesale change in how we interact, engage, influence and motivate.  It’s only going to get tougher.