Feedfoward means giving people suggestions in advance about how to behave rather than waiting for them to fail and beating them up afterwards.  Anyone can give feedforward when they have an idea that may help someone else succeed.  For example, years ago my husband was about to present to his company’s executive leadership team for the first time. His boss gave him great feed-forward about how to dress, when to speak, how much detail to go into, etc.

While I usually talk about giving feedforward, Goldsmith also makes the great point that we can and should ask for feedforward.  If you have a behavior you want to change, try asking others for ideas and suggestions about how to succeed.   Most people who try this technique find that it is fun and they get great ideas.

Interested in learning and trying feedforward for yourself?  Check out this video from Goldsmith:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This isn’t a fantasy.  One company actually made it happen by making it’s mandatory training funny, relevant,  and educational through the use of video.

Steve Mack, executive producer for Impact Video Production, just released this video blog showing how several companies have made training more engaging by creating video parodies of the TV series, “The Office”.

Hospital Video Contest: Washing Hands

Rather than creating a corporate Wash Your Hands campaign, one hospital asked employees to create and submit their own videos.  Here’s a compilation of results:

Consider inviting your people to create your next important message themselves!

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to the fun factor, I think this video illustrates another powerful point.  People are curious.  In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath demonstrate how powerful it can be to start a talk or a class by using a question or a mystery:

Today’s takeaway:  Are you leveraging fun and curiosity to interest people in your change effort?

As Myron Radio and I discuss in our book, Change at the Core, most organizational change ultimately comes down to changes in people’s behavior. Yet this aspect often proves to be the most mystifying part of any change. We know that command and control results in short-term compliance, if it works at all. Memos certainly don’t work. Neither does begging, pleading, or other forms of incentives.

Fortunately, there is great research available from Joseph Grenny and his Influencer co-authors. They found that successful influencers utilize at least four sources of influence when getting people to change their behavior. Two powerful sources are peer pressure (aka social motivation) and practice. Others include personal motivation, social ability (mutual accountability) and structural motivation (rewards).

For a fun introduction to the concepts from Influencer, check out the video below.

In his talk at TED this year, Pink discussed approaches to motivation and argues that the “carrot” approach can actually destroy creativity.  Watch the clip below to see what he has to say.

• Celebrate the history you have with the audience.
• Share your new work (thoughts, ideas).
• Connect to what is happening in the world now.

He went on to emphasize that there are many different audiences that make up the crowd at any performance.  Some believe what you believe.  Some want to be entertained.  Some will disagree with you.  Springsteen says to recognize that fact, but stay true to who you are.

Great advice for singers and speakers!

Haven’t heard the song?  Check out the YouTube video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Steve Mack, media consultant and executive producer for Impact Video Production, shows you how in this short video.

Click here to view the embedded video.