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Praise, Performance Reviews and Risk-Taking
Feb 19The Inverse Power of Praise
Praise works…to a point. How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise summarizes a body of praise and performance research in New York public schools. Guess what? Give too much praise — especially vacuous praise — and people respond by limiting their risk-taking and effort.
I know it sounds counter-intuitive. That’s because it is. I know it’s hard to reconcile that too much praise can backfire. We live in a self-esteem movement era. I’ll leave you to read the New Yorker article. You can draw your own conclusions about over-praising children and the negative effects that might have. But the article made me think about performance and performance reviews. (Yep, I’ve been thinking a lot about performance reviews lately.)
Do Performance Reviews Stifle Risk-Taking?
Does the mere fact of giving a performance review kill creativity? Let’s answer a question with a question: How would you rate two different direct reports — one who took no risks but accomplished all her goals and another who took some big, calculated risks but didn’t complete 30% of her goals because she was occupied with big effort?
Yes, there are a lot of extenuating circumstances. And I can hear you saying, “Well, we just can’t have everyone running around freelancing.” Sure, let’s stipulate to that. But what’s the best way to get a great performance rating? Is it to take big risks? Or is it to comply? As Dilbert author Scott Adams wrote:
It’s important to agree with people if you want them to think you are a genius. For most people, the definition of smart is‚ “Thinks exactly like me but even more so.”
We’re still working feverishly on Get Rid of Performance Reviews Once and For All. This Inverse Power of Praise research is just more fuel for the fire.
What’s Your Take on Praise and Performance?
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Frank Roche
Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.
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Real life observations about complimenting kids
While it is not scientifically perfect, my kids, boy/girl twins demonstrate interesting behavior that does not wholly support this research.
One child, the girl, is more advanced academically at the moment. She is also more able to interact with adults, pay attention longer, and maintain “good” behavior longer through boredom.
The other child, the boy, is more focused on others. He is very caring, he gets more pleasure from making people laugh than anything else and he is less likely to resist instructions just to test adults (when there is no audience).
I try very hard to treat them the same in many ways. Obviously they are different, but I try to identify areas where they need to learn more and try to boost their confidence there. As a parent I can’t help but also tell them when they do something well.
As much as I try to treat them the same, I find that the girl, who is more academically advanced, does opt to do things she is good at more often (and is much more likely to try new things when she can do it WITH her brother and deflect the attention if she is not successful).
My son, on the other hand, is a joiner. He will try almost anything… except things he feels like he should already know how to do (like swimming). If he is not an expert, he will turn it into an opportunity to be funny while he learns. He knows there are things he is naturally good at (like geography – something they don’t even teach in first grade). That doesn’t stop him from wanting to learn more.
My daughter is a fantastic reader and she is great at math. Two things they do teach. I haven’t noticed any slowdown in her desire to be ahead… maybe competitiveness also factors in here.
Maybe competitiveness, or even other things, are wildcards that change everything?
I do worry about the attenuation of risk when kids are praised for being “smart” instead of for working hard and being smart. I have this discussion in my own household all the time…my teenage boys sometimes think being the first to hand in a test is worthwhile…I explain that doing your level best, and exerting effort, is essential. A little of that Vince Lombardi speech rings in my head.