Whale Done! Very Whale Done!

© 2003 Boaz Rauchwerger

So, you like to swim? What if I put you in a very large pool and told you that, in just a moment, you’re going to be shot out of the water? Not through a cannon, but off the nose of that huge animal coming up behind you under the water. That’s a five-ton killer whale. You’re going to put your feet on the nose of that whale and it’s going to propel you into the air.

You say you’re not ready to take that leap of faith? Please keep in mind that there is actually a lot to learn from whales. I learned all about them and what they have in common with people at work, spouses and kids in a marvelous new book by Ken Blanchard called "Whale Done!"

Ken is a top business consultant and best-selling author of such books as "Raving Fans" and "The One Minute Manager." Ken and his co-authors from SeaWorld have created a moving and inspirational book, which explains that both whales and people perform better when you accentuate the positive.

"Whale Done!" shows how you can supercharge your effectiveness at work and at home by using the same techniques used by animal trainers that work with the killer whales at SeaWorld.

Longtime readers of this column will recognize a number of the key elements presented in "Whale Done!" because they form the foundation of the ideas we discuss on a regular basis. Ken found that the huge killer whales, among the most feared predators in the ocean, perform amazing acrobatic leaps and dives because their trainers have built trust with the animals, accentuated the positive, and redirected negative behavior.

Whether you manage a handful of people, a large department, or simply trying to improve your closest relationships, the concepts presented in "Whale Done!" would serve you well: building trust, accentuating the positive, and redirecting negative behavior.

Ken states, in the introduction to the book, “For years I had been talking and writing about the power of positive relationships and the need to catch people doing things right in order to develop productive work and home environments. And yet I’d become discouraged to see that the very opposite was occurring in most organizations and homes: catching people doing things wrong seemed to be the rule.”

“I was firmly convinced,” continues Ken, “that punishment was harmful in human relationships, and I realized instinctively that it wouldn’t be a smart move with killer whales.”

How many times have all of us been guilty of rushing to judgment, of leaning toward punishment when dealing with others? Looking for the good, and disregarding the bad as much as possible, is a much more productive direction to take.

Ken takes this concept one step further in "Whale Done!" He states, “I was particularly fascinated by the ability of SeaWorld trainers to use redirection. Upon encountering any undesirable behaviors on the whales’ part, they would immediately refocus those energies elsewhere. That very simple but powerful strategy permits the trainers to set up new situations to catch the whales doing something right.”

“Everybody knows that accentuating the positive works best,” Ken continues. “But what do you do when somebody does something that has a negative impact? That’s where Chuck (Chuck Tompkins, head trainer at the Orlando SeaWorld) and the SeaWorld trainers opened my eyes. Instead of focusing energy, as most of us do, on what went wrong, they redirect that energy toward a positive outcome. When Chuck and I realized that the combination of redirection and accentuating the positive could make a major difference in work and family relationships, we began talking about writing a book together that would show how to apply these concepts.”

One of the SeaWorld trainers states the following in the book: “An important concept to remember is that the more attention you pay to a behavior, the more it will be repeated. We’ve learned from the killer whales that when we don’t pay a lot of attention to what they do wrong, but instead give lots of attention to what they do right, they do the right thing more often.”

In a further clarification, the trainer says, “We don’t accentuate the positive just to get the animals to perform, though. We do it because it’s the right thing to do. We treat our animals as individuals, each of which has unlimited capacities for development and accomplishment.”

The book states that many of us, when it comes to dealing with other people, do things backwards: “We focus our attention on poor performance rather than on good performance. In the process, we reinforce the very behavior we don’t want!” The book describes two drastically different approaches: The word GOTcha means catching people doing things wrong, while the words WHALE DONE! mean catching people doing things right.

I agree with these powerful concepts. My version of the above is this: whatever the mind focuses on, expands. So, as this wonderful book expresses so well, be careful what you focus on. I highly recommend "WHALE DONE!" For more information about the book, or the entire "WHALE DONE!" program, go to www.kenblanchard.com.

This book is not just "WHALE DONE!" It’s Very "WHALE DONE!"

A Daily Affirmation of Approval

I always look for opportunities to praise others.