I have this reputation – most of it self-proclaimed – but much of it very true – that I am not very organized.
Building Aspire – I have a lot to learn in terms of having metrics and driving the entire operations number-driven. We have done ISO-9000, but are we truly metrics driven in its truest sense – I would say “no”. Are we trying to change that? Yes.
But, years of learning and working with Gowri and many others, has gotten me personally to a point where I have become a metric driven – parent! Yes, it is true.
I do not know if “metrics” is the word or “a simple incentive system” is the word. (I saw a movie by name “Employee of the Month” where I found that some corporates use this “star” system to rate employees, but believe me, I came up with this all by myself!)
Here is what happens:
§ We have a calendar stuck on the wall, that has a rectangle for each date – of 2 inches by 3 inches size. It is a regular monthly calendar like the ones people use to write “milk accounts” in India – it is the desk calendar that I picked up from FedexKinkos..
§ We have bought 2 sticker books – one with small star and small smiley stickers and one with large “encouraging” stickers – that has wordings like fantastic, awesome, etc.
§ Every time my son does something good – like he behaves very well in a restaurant, he has a “zero-tear” day, or he brushes his teeth well, or whatever, we give him a small star or a smiley sticker. He gets to paste that in the calendar for that date.
§ Every small star has double-rewards for him.
1. Chocolate award: He can convert each small sticker into a small chocolate (like a Gems (M&M), or a peanut dots, etc.) Or, he can accumulate 5 and convert into a mid-sized chocolate or a bowl ice-cream.
2. In addition, each 5 small stickers earns him a large motivational sticker. He sticks those motivational stickers on the gifts that he plans to earn.
§ Every time we buy a gift for him – we mark price for the gift in terms of number of large stickers. For example, we bought a large Easel for him. It is a large gift. He worked hard through 2-3 weeks, earning stickers after stickers, and stuck large stickers one after the other and “earned” this gift – with 5 large motivational stickers – 25 small stars. You should have seen the pleasure on his face when he actually won this. He was so happy – he played with this new toy for hours.
§ We used to struggle with ideas for punishment (or stick against carrot) when he misbehaves. Nowadays, a great, a non-violent and a very effective punishment is “removing the stars”. If we warn him that we will remove stars, he immediately listens and stops mis-behaving.
§ This has worked so wonderful. He seems to understand the basics of this complex reward system, and understands the fundamentals – that he does not get gifts free – he needs to earn them. He earns them by doing good. Crowded star days or weeks are good weeks for him. If he does not have stars in a day, that means, it is a normal day or a negative day.
§ We keep the gifts roster busy and attractive. Right now, he has a lot more gifts to earn, including a trip to Bronx Zoo (6 large stars), a book, a few DVDs, etc.
§ He seems to enjoy the process as well, and feels proud to see the calendar full of stars. He values the stars, and the gifts a lot.