Author: Barry Morgenstern

We often teach parents, staff, and supervisors to be overwhelmingly positive. You have been told that for each time you deliver a correction, you should find five things you can praise. That’s pretty hard to do, and takes a lot of practice.

The 5:1 positive-to-correction ratio has been studied extensively in a variety of contexts such as staff working with learners, supervisors working with staff, and even married couples. As a general rule, in most relationships, if your positive-to-correction ratio is around 5:1, things are probably going well.

Now, many of us who are overachievers tend to think if 5:1 is good, 10:1 must be better. Maybe we can go for 20:1? In fact, I’ve seen situations where people almost never get any negative feedback. But more isn’t always better. While it is an effective procedure, it can lead to problems if overused:

1. There are always problems to address. In many situations, the only way to get the ratio up to super-high levels is to ignore the problems. Of course, there are benefits to emphasizing the positive. But ignoring the problems ensures they will stay problems.
2. The person who is receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback, whether a child, staff person, or pretty much anyone, can start to believe that there is no need to improve. That’s terrible for the Poogi. There is always more to improve.
3. The person who is receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback is sure to eventually get some negative feedback. But now, because they aren’t used to ever getting any negative feedback, it will often lead to an emotional reaction.

The positive-to-correction ratio is a great procedure to teach parents, staff, and supervisors. Just be sure they don’t overdo it.

It is also worth checking the ratio of positive to negative feedback you are personally receiving. If it’s highly negative, no problem. No doubt you are aware of it and trying to do something about it.

But if no one is giving you any critical feedback? Then problems are probably not on your radar.  You probably are not on a POOGI. Go seek out negative feedback.  It’s the only way to POOGI.

Most of us learn a tremendous amount in grad school—it can be a life-changing experience. But there is a reason why jokes like a PhD stands for piled high and deep are so popular. They contain an element of truth.

For example, while in graduate school for behavior analysis, I learned that “data” is a plural noun. When talking about the data, it was never considered appropriate to say something like, “The data is…” Always say, “The data are…” I’ve heard frequent jokes over the years about how this is a great way to make fun of people who don’t know better, or how you might be asked to resign for using “data is” in a sentence. But recently, someone told me there is now active debate in some circles that maybe the word data should be considered singular after all.

This is a classic example of what is often called an “academic debate.” These things can be easy to get sucked into, but in reality, don’t make any difference at all in the real world.

Now, of course, it isn’t always easy to tell the difference between what is an “academic debate” and what is absolutely essential to learn. Therefore, in graduate school (like just about every other kind of school), you will learn some essential stuff, but you also learn an awful lot of stuff you will never use. In math class, we learned to tell time and count money—both essential skills. But we also learned to factor quadratic equations. Unless you are a math teacher, or your child needed help with homework, you probably never looked at quadratic equations again.

In graduate school, I learned some essential stuff, like how to assess and treat severe problem behaviors. But I also learned plenty of other stuff that was academic debate (e.g., never say “data is”).

In general, people are overly impressed with a degree. While academic knowledge can matter, what you really want is someone who can both walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk. A degree, generally, only guarantees someone can talk-the-talk, which is often the least important part of the process.

When hiring, does it matter if the person has Master’s degree or a PhD? People will generally assume the person with the PhD is more qualified. That may be true. But it may not. If you are a good talker/writer, you can probably get the degree. Don’t be too impressed with good talkers. What really matters is what people do.

“If Sam Breakstone Weren’t So Demanding, His Sour Cream Wouldn’t Be So Good”

 An old series of TV commercials tells the story of Sam Breakstone making sour cream. Sam is extremely demanding with his employees. He is constantly yelling at his staff. They are very frustrated with him. You can see an example here.

As silly as the commercials are, I love them because they capture a real-world conflict BCBAs face all the time.  Like Breakstone, BCBAs also have a challenging goal—to make a significant difference in the lives of the people we serve. But this takes a long time; it is hard to continuously push for what is needed, especially when stakeholders are satisfied with what has been done so far. If you push too hard, like Sam Breakstone, staff will be frustrated. If you don’t push hard enough, the long-term results will likely be poor.

If Sam had been a better manager, he might have tried reinforcing the staff who were using the skills needed to make great sour cream, and then celebrating as the sour cream was Poogi-ing. But there is real truth in the tagline of the commercial:  “If Sam Breakstone weren’t so demanding, his sour cream wouldn’t be so good.”

It is hard to stay focused on the long term when everything is going beautifully, sometimes even for years at a time. When no one is complaining and everyone is singing your praises, it is easy to become overconfident.

I think the Sam Breakstone commercials can teach us 3 important lessons:

1. When managing people, don’t be a jerk. You have to reward staff for working hard and celebrate results, even if it isn’t all the way to your final goal.
2. You have to know where you are going. Sam Breakstone was going for great sour cream. We are going towards making a significant difference in the lives of our clients. Having a clear focus is essential.
3. But you have to be demanding. Even when people are very satisfied, even when everyone is already praising the success, if you aren’t at the point where the behavior changes will maintain, it won’t matter in the long run.

If BCBAs aren’t so demanding, the long-term client results won’t be so good.

As a manager, staff people, parents, or teachers will frequently come to you with a suggestion. Sometimes, their suggestion is a really bad idea. This is a risky situation because if you implement the bad idea, you potentially do damage to the client’s program. If you don’t implement the idea, you potentially damage the relationship with the person, or at least reduce the likelihood they will come to you with new ideas or suggestions in the future. Either can hurt the Poogi.

Many years ago, I read what I think is the effective solution to this problem in this book. It is presented in the context of a family conflict. Goldratt calls this “presenting the negative branch.” I’ve used this procedure for many years, and I’ve found it to be extremely effective. It prevents you from implementing bad ideas, makes everyone feel good, and leads to great discussions.

I won’t cover the step-by-step implementation procedures here, but the essence of the process is to start by acknowledging the good intentions of the person who has the idea. That’s so important. If you start right away with “that won’t work,” people assume that you didn’t understand what they meant. This is how you end up in arguments, making the same points over and over.

Then, you have to show very clearly how the idea will lead to some negative effects. That may take some preparation, so it may be necessary to take a break from the conversation and say, “let me think about it.” Of course, it is essential that you get back to the person and explain step by step why the idea will lead to some negative effects.

Finally, don’t suggest a modification to the idea. Let the person who came up with the idea suggest how to improve it.

Nope, I don’t have a reference to demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure. But, I’m not aware of any advice in our literature on how to handle this problem either. I think these procedures are consistent with our principles. If you are looking for an ambitious master’s thesis or PhD dissertation, feel free to contact me to discuss.

When working as a BCBA, many people are likely to attempt to influence how you do your job in an incredible number of ways. Unfortunately, a few will likely try to encourage you to do something that is definitely not in the best interest of the children we are serving. This happens for different reasons including budget issues, to satisfy a particular stakeholder, or even leadership’s preference for a particular intervention.

There is a lot of training available on how to professionally handle ethical challenges. These situations are stressful, and can even lead to fear for your job. Today, I’m not discussing how to handle these situations. Others have done that. No matter what you do, these scenarios will be tough. But there is one simple thing you can do that will make dealing with it easier and less stressful.

Start a savings account. If you have some savings in the bank, and you can live without a paycheck for a few months, these situations are much less stressful. If you aren’t afraid for your personal finances, you will handle any ethical dilemma in a much better way than you might have if you didn’t have the savings account. If worst comes to worst, you can take your time to find a new job. Although most of the time leaving a job isn’t necessary, just knowing you have money in the bank will dramatically improve your chances of handling the situation well.

If you don’t have any savings, and you must keep your job, the odds of compromising greatly increase. You will find yourself much more likely to let little things slide. We know how shaping works. Soon, the little things become big things.

Don’t let that happen. Start small and build up your savings. It’s essential for your ethical practice. You can’t focus on clients when you are worried about paying your mortgage or providing for your own kids.

Of course, many people are struggling now, so this advice might be difficult to implement. It just shows another reason why having emergency money is so important. It is essential to start as soon as possible. This is one area that even a small bit of positive behavior change on a regular basis can make a big difference.