Behavioral Contagion At Work

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Hello, everyone.
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Thanks for tuning in.
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It's been a little while since our last drop, and we're making a few changes here at the Talent Forge.
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Moving forward, you can expect more solo missions, more practical tools, and more actionable tactics.
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Well, and a few guests here sprinkled in along the way.
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The shift's coming by popular request.
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Honestly, it feels right.
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I've been asked to share more insights about the experiences I've had in working with different organizations over my past 20 years and what's actually working and what's not.
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So that's what you're going to get.
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The goal is simple.
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Give you useful ideas you can apply immediately to shape behavior, strengthen leadership, and build better workplaces.
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So today we're going to explore one of the most important aspects, in my humble opinion, of culture and behavior.
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Something we call behavioral contagion.
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Now, this sounds more academic than it actually is.
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And I know it sounds like something you can catch from touching the wrong conference room door handle.
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But it's actually one of the most practical leadership ideas we can understand.
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Behavioral contagion is very simple.
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It literally means behavior is a super spreader.
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That's it.
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The way people act at work spreads from one person to another person, from team to team, and from meeting to meeting.
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Sometimes that can be a great thing.
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You know, when we think about something like calm, well, that spreads.
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Clarity, that can spread.
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Accountability, curiosity, good meeting habits.
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Those all spread because we see them and we reenact them.
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But let's be honest, so does some of those maladaptive behaviors that we see.
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Complaining, panic, sarcasm, lateness.
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One person's late, guess what?
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If it's not corrected, many people are going to follow suit.
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So does something like, just send it to me and I'll fix it myself, because apparently that's my life now.
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Behavior spreads.
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If you've ever walked into a room and immediately felt the mood of that room before anybody even said a word, you probably already know that this is true.
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You feel it.
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You walk into one meeting and people are sharp, tense, short with each other, nobody's looking up, everyone's half listening, the energy's weird.
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Within about five minutes, you're gonna probably start feeling weird too.
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You don't even know how this happens.
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You're like, why am I annoyed?
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I was fine 10 minutes ago.
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I had coffee, I had hope, I had a life.
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Then you walk into another meeting, completely different.
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People are focused, clear, respectful, maybe even laughing a little bit.
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The leader starts it on time.
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Somebody actually says what the meeting's for, which, let's be honest, already feels like a small miracle.
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And suddenly you feel more subtled.
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That's contagion.
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We tend to think culture is created by all the big stuff, you know, the mission statement, the values, the strategy deck, the all-staff meeting, the laminated post.
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I saying it is even funny, you know, that we've been hanging on a break room door since 2017.
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Don't get me wrong, those things can matter.
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But culture is not mainly what gets announced.
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It's not the values on the walls, it's the behavior in the halls.
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Culture is essentially what gets repeated.
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It's what people see over and over again until they decide, oh, this is how we do things around here.
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And that's a piece I'm going to sit with today.
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Because every workplace is teaching people how to behave all the time.
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Not just in training, not just during onboarding, not just when the leader is giving a big inspiring message with the good lighting and the carefully chosen words.
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The real training is happening in daily moments.
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It's happening in the Monday morning meeting, it's happening in the hallway conversations after meeting, in a slack thread, when someone makes a mistake, when a deadline's missed, when someone tells the truth and everyone silently looks at the table.
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When the most negative person in a room gets the most airtime, it's happening when the person who does heroic, unhealthy, last-minute work gets praised more than the person who planned ahead and prevented a fire.
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That's the real culture classroom.
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People are always watching.
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And they're not just watching leaders, they're watching everyone.
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They're watching who gets listened to, who gets interrupted, who gets away with things, who's allowed to be difficult.
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And from those moments, they learn what is safe, what is normal, and what is rewarded.
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That's behavioral contagion.
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Now, this matters because most leaders are trying to change culture by explaining culture.
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They say things like, we need better communication, we need more accountability, we need people to be proactive.
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We live in a culture of ownership.
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And those are great ideas, but the issue is that nobody's changing because we said the word accountability six times in a meeting.
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If that worked, every organization in the world would be crushing it.
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People change when behavior becomes visible, repeatable, reinforced, and safe enough to copy.
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That's the magic.
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Not complicated, not easy, but not complicated.
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Let me give you an example here.
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Let's say you want a better accountability on your team.
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So you tell people, we need more accountability, we're gonna focus on this, do what we're gonna say, do what we say we're gonna do.
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Everybody nods.
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Of course they nod.
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Nobody's gonna sit there and be like, actually, I'm anti-accountability.
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Huge fan of chaos, love a miss deadline.
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So everybody just agrees.
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But then the meeting ends without clear owners, deadlines, next steps, actionable items.
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The next meeting starts with, where are we on that thing?
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Nobody knows who had the thing.
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Somebody thought somebody else had the thing.
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Someone says, I thought we were still discussing the thing.
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And now everyone is staring at each other like a group project in high school.
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That team doesn't have accountability attitude problem.
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They have accountability behavioral problem.
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The behavior that needs to spread is not be accountable.
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The behavior that needs to spread is before we leave a meeting, we confirm the decision, the owner, the deadline, and the first next step.
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That's it.
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That's the behavioral focus.
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And once people start seeing that happen every time it spreads, someone else starts doing it, people start expecting it, people feel uncomfortable leaving a meeting without it.
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That's when you know the behaviors become part of the culture.
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It went from something a leader said to something the group does.
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That's a huge difference.
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Let's take another one.
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Urgency is something I hear constantly in different organizations.
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It's one of the most contagious workplace behaviors on the planet.
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Urgency can be great when it means that we're getting the right job done, the right stuff done for the right clients or for the right purpose.
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But urgency can also become firefighting real quick and spread faster than birthday cupcakes in the break room.
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One person sends an email marked urgent.
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Another person marks their urgent thing because they need attention to.
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Suddenly everything is urgent.
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And we all know when everything's urgent, nothing's actually prioritized.
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It all becomes emotional and organizational noise and chaos.
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Now the team's not working from strategy, they're working from whoever panics the loudest.
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That's not a system, that's a group anxiety project.
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The contagious behavior is not productivity, it's panic.
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And here's the uncomfortable part.
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A lot of organizations continue to reward panic.
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They may not mean to, but they do it.
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The person who drops everything and saves the day gets praised.
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Or that guy that answers messages at 11:30 at night gets called dedicated.
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The woman who says yes to everything seems to be a great team player versus the person that says no and actually draws a healthy boundary.
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The person who quietly absorbs impossible expectations gets trusted with even more impossible expectations.
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And if you're a leader or manager that is delegating, check and see how you're delegating.
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Because I'm going to bet you give the biggest, hardest, most labor-intense projects to the people you trust the most.
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That's just a natural human thing.
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Why not?
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How do we become confused when people are burned out at that point?
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The system's been teaching us exactly what to do.
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Be available, be reactive, be heroic, don't make trade-offs.
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That behavior spreads because it works in the short term.
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It's one of the key principles here.
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Behavior that works gets repeated.
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And works does not always mean healthy, or works short term is not always an indication of long-term success.
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Sometimes the reward can be something as simple as getting attention, uh, avoiding conflict, protecting somebody's status or ego, getting approval, getting a leader off your back, or making an uncomfortable conversation go away.
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So these can all be great in the short term.
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They may make us feel good right now, but in the long term, there's a price.
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And it's one that organizations continue to pay because they're not actually rewarding the right behaviors, and they're tolerating the behaviors of short-term success rather than long-term gratification.
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That's why we have to look at what's being rewarded.
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If a behavior keeps showing up, it's getting paid somehow.
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Maybe not with money, could be relief, power, laughter, silence, but it's getting something.
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So if you want to change a behavior, one of the best questions you can ask is what is rewarding this?
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Or what is the reward for this behavior?
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Not why are people like this?
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That question rarely helps.
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In fact, it's probably more harmful.
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The answer is usually because they're people, or that's just how Jim is.
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And that's not really a great way to change strategy.
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The better question is going to be is what is it in the environment that's rewarding this behavior?
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Is it something that we mentioned above?
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If gossip spreads, what's rewarding it?
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Maybe gossip gives people some connection, sense of control.
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Maybe it lets them invent without having the harder conversation.
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What about cynicism?
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Another very contagious behavior.
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If it spreads, what's rewarding it?
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Maybe it protects people from disappointment, makes people look smart, makes them help uh avoid vulnerability.
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Let's be honest, it's much easier to sound intelligent by criticizing an idea than by risking hope for it.
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Anyone can sit in the back of the room and go, yeah, that'll never work.
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Congratulations.
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Very brave.
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But it takes a different kind of courage to say, maybe there's something here.
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What would make this work?
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Now that might be a behavior worth spreading.
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I want to give you a simple way to think about how behaviors spread.
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And I'm going to use an acronym here called SRED.
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S-P-R-E-A-D.
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Because apparently I cannot help myself.
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I love a good acronym, but this one's useful.
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If you want to understand why a behavior is spreading, or if you want to intentionally spread a better behavior, let's look at these six pieces: signal, permission, reward, ease, adoption, durability.
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Say it again one more time.
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Spread.
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Signal, permission, reward, ease, adoption, durability.
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Now let's walk through them.
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First is the signal.
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This is where we're going to identify what behavior is being signaled as normal.
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Every team sending signals each and every day, all day long.
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Leader starts the meeting late.
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Signal.
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The manager says, thanks for raising that concern.
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Signal.
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A senior person cuts someone off and nobody redirects it.
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Signal.
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A teammate says, I missed the deadline.
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That's on me.
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Here's my recovery plan.
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Signal.
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People learn from signals.
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And here's where it gets tricky.
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We often judge ourselves by our intentions, but other people experience our signals.
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They're judging by outcomes.
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You might intend to be efficient when you send a short message, but the signal might be, I'm annoyed.
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You might intend to give people autonomy by not checking in.
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The signal might be you're on your own.
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You might intend to be helpful by jumping in and fixing everything.
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But the signal might be, I don't trust you to handle this.
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That doesn't mean we panic over every interpretation.
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But what it does mean, leaders have to pay attention to the signals that they are sending.
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Because what you signal repeatedly becomes what people copy.
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So the question is, what are we signaling through our behavior?
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Not just what are we saying, but what are we signaling?
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All right, let's move on to the P permission.
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What behavior has been given permission to exist here?
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Sometimes permission spoken, but most of the time it's actually silent.
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If somebody's dominating every meeting and nobody redirects them, domination has been given permission.
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If people are gossiping and nobody checks that, well, gossip has been given permission.
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If people miss deadlines and there's no follow-up or any kind of accountability measure, missed commitments now have permission.
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This is the thing about culture.
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What we tolerate teaches.
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That's not always a fun sentence, but it's a true one.
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What we tolerate teaches.
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And I say that with compassion because leaders tolerate things for all kinds of reasons.
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Could be we're tired, overwhelmed, we don't want to make a big deal of it.
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We say to ourselves, we're going to address it next time.
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The next time becomes next quarter, and now the behavior is not a moment or an instance anymore.
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It's a pattern.
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So permission asks, what have we unintentionally allowed to become normal?
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And then what do we need to give permission for instead?
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Permission to ask for clarity, permission to say, I'm at capacity, permission to disagree without it feeling like a personal attack, permission to raise a blocker or a boundary early, permission to pause before reacting, permission to repair after conflict.
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Those are powerful permissions.
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Permission is what we have allowed, what we have tolerated.
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What we tolerate, we reinforce.
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What we reward, we also reinforce.
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So we're going to move to the R, which is reward.
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Again, reward doesn't have to be formal reward.
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It doesn't have to be a bonus or something like that.
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And most oftentimes, it's the informal rewards that end up generating behavioral contagion.
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Attention, for example, can be an award reward.
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If somebody is given attention because they have acted out, that's a reward.
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We know this from parenting, but this is also true in the workplace.
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Laughter can be a reward.
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Rescuing, avoiding discomfort, being seen as indispensable, all of those are rewards.
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Sometimes the behavior we claim to hate is the behavior that we just keep rewarding.
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We say, we don't want silos, but then we reward leaders for protecting their people and their own department, or to making sure that they're doing right by just their department.
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We may say we want innovation, but then we punish failed experiments or get upset when somebody makes a mistake.
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We can say we want balance, but then we admire exhaustion.
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We want honesty, but when someone tells the truth, we call them negative or we get upset with them.
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Sure, maybe they can say it differently, but the reality is, is we're sending a signal.
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The behavior that wins is the behavior that spreads.
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So if the wrong behavior is spreading, check the reward system.
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There's almost always something that says this behavior is being rewarded by blank.
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Let's look at the fourth letter.
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Ease.
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How easy is the desired behavior to do?
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Now we can look at this from the where it's good behavior.
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How easy are we making it?
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How much friction is there to doing the good behavior?
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Or how much friction is there, or how little friction is there to doing the bad behavior?
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This is one of my favorite behavior change questions because it takes us out of fantasy land.
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A lot of organizations want better behavior, but they make the good behavior too hard.
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They want better delegation, but there's no template.
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There's no training, there's no coaching on how to delegate effectively.
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We want to give feedback, but nobody has language for it, or nobody's been trained on how to receive feedback, not just give it, but how to receive feedback.
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That's just as important.
00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:43.129
So then we look at it when these things aren't happening and we go, why aren't people doing this?
00:17:43.289 --> 00:17:45.529
Well, the behavior is friction heavy.
00:17:45.769 --> 00:17:48.650
If you want behavior to spread, make it easy to copy.
00:17:48.889 --> 00:17:52.250
Give people phrases, scripts, templates, routines.
00:17:52.490 --> 00:17:55.450
This is why small phrases can be so powerful.
00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:57.129
What does done look like?
00:17:57.369 --> 00:17:58.889
What are we assuming here?
00:17:59.129 --> 00:18:01.529
Is this urgent or just top of mind?
00:18:01.690 --> 00:18:02.970
What is the trade-off?
00:18:03.210 --> 00:18:04.329
Who owns this?
00:18:04.490 --> 00:18:06.329
What's the next visible step?
00:18:06.569 --> 00:18:08.970
Can we separate fact from story here?
00:18:09.289 --> 00:18:14.089
These little phrases are words that we install in the managers that we train.
00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:14.650
Why?
00:18:14.970 --> 00:18:25.369
For different situations, having the script or having the words ready to go are is a much better approach than trying to think on the spot in those situations.
00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:31.609
Because oftentimes we turn to the more negative side if we're in a limbic threat zone.
00:18:31.690 --> 00:18:34.009
But if we have scripts, guess what?
00:18:34.170 --> 00:18:34.970
It helps.
00:18:35.129 --> 00:18:36.970
These are little culture seeds.
00:18:37.210 --> 00:18:40.809
These communication practices, we plant them and they start to grow.
00:18:40.889 --> 00:18:44.809
They make better behavior easier to repeat and reproduce.
00:18:44.970 --> 00:18:49.849
And the easier it is to repeat, the more likely it is to spread.
00:18:50.089 --> 00:18:52.889
Fifth, we're coming to the end here, adoption.
00:18:53.129 --> 00:18:55.849
We have six, obviously, but adoption.
00:18:56.089 --> 00:18:58.089
Who needs to model this first?
00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:03.849
This really matters because not everyone has the same social influence inside of an organization.
00:19:04.089 --> 00:19:10.170
There are people in every organization who shape the room, shape the energy, shape the culture.
00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:13.769
Some of them have a title, and some of them don't.
00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:15.609
And you know who I'm talking about.
00:19:15.849 --> 00:19:22.889
There's people in the organization with very little or very low titles that everyone looks at after an announcement.
00:19:23.129 --> 00:19:32.650
Somebody whose facial expression can kill an idea before it even stands up, or that person who can make something feel safe or ridiculous with one simple comment.
00:19:32.809 --> 00:19:35.129
These are informal influencers.
00:19:35.369 --> 00:19:45.049
If you want behavior to spread, you have to think about people that you want to be your informal influencer and have them be your early adopters.
00:19:45.210 --> 00:19:48.009
This is why culture change can't just be a memo.
00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.170
A memo doesn't model behavior.
00:19:50.410 --> 00:19:56.089
It sits there looking official, but behavior spreads when credible people demonstrate it in public.
00:19:56.250 --> 00:19:58.650
So ask, who needs to go first?
00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:00.569
Who needs to use these phrases?
00:20:00.730 --> 00:20:02.410
Who needs to model the reset?
00:20:02.569 --> 00:20:06.730
Who needs to show that this new behavior is not just approved, but really useful?
00:20:07.450 --> 00:20:09.210
This is the adoption.
00:20:10.889 --> 00:20:13.049
Last, durability.
00:20:13.369 --> 00:20:16.089
Does the behavior hold under pressure?
00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:17.849
Now, this is the real test.
00:20:18.089 --> 00:20:21.450
Any team can have wonderful values when nothing is going wrong.
00:20:21.609 --> 00:20:24.089
Just like Mike Tyson says, everybody has a plan.
00:20:24.329 --> 00:20:25.930
So you get punched in the mouth.
00:20:26.089 --> 00:20:32.809
It's very easy to be collaborative when nobody's stressed, the client's happy, the budget's fine, and everyone's got a decent night's sleep.
00:20:33.049 --> 00:20:34.889
Sadly, that's not the test.
00:20:35.129 --> 00:20:47.289
The test happens when the deadline moves, change occurs, the customer becomes upset, someone makes a mistake, the leader's stressed out, resources become tighter, emotions run hot.
00:20:47.849 --> 00:20:51.609
That's when the culture shows its value.
00:20:52.009 --> 00:20:56.170
The behavior is not truly embedded until it survives pressure.
00:20:56.329 --> 00:21:06.329
If your team says, we value respectful disagreement, but the first tough conversation turns into blame and silence, that behavior is not durable.
00:21:06.490 --> 00:21:16.329
If your team says, raise risks early, but the first person who raises a risk gets their head taken off, yeah, that behavior is dead.
00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:18.410
Not wounded, dead.
00:21:18.650 --> 00:21:24.089
So if we want behaviors to last, we have to practice them and protect them under pressure.
00:21:24.250 --> 00:21:25.609
What does that sound like?
00:21:25.769 --> 00:21:29.849
When deadlines are at risk, we raise the risk early without blame.
00:21:30.089 --> 00:21:34.889
When we disagree, we ask two questions before giving our one critique.
00:21:35.049 --> 00:21:40.250
When priorities conflict, we name the trade-off instead of pretending everything fits.
00:21:40.410 --> 00:21:44.809
When tension rises, we pause and reset before we do damage.
00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:52.889
These kinds of structural, anticipated, behavioral expectations create durability.
00:21:53.049 --> 00:22:00.809
So again, the concept of spread, signal, permission, reward, ease, adoption, and durability.
00:22:01.049 --> 00:22:04.250
So let's move into making this some practical applications.
00:22:04.410 --> 00:22:08.730
Because I don't want this to be one of the episodes where we all nod and go back to our lives unchanged.
00:22:08.809 --> 00:22:11.289
Here's the simple leadership moves.
00:22:11.609 --> 00:22:17.210
Pick one behavior, not 12, not 100, not change the culture.
00:22:17.369 --> 00:22:18.889
All of that is too big.
00:22:19.129 --> 00:22:22.569
Pick one behavior you want to start spreading.
00:22:22.730 --> 00:22:27.289
Maybe it's ending meetings with owners and deadlines, or ending meetings on time.
00:22:27.450 --> 00:22:33.450
Maybe it's asking clarifying questions in meetings before uh decisions have been made.
00:22:33.609 --> 00:22:37.609
Maybe it's raising boundaries earlier or understanding earlier.
00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:39.690
Maybe it's giving specific feedback.
00:22:39.849 --> 00:22:42.170
Maybe it's pausing before reacting.
00:22:42.329 --> 00:22:45.849
Maybe it's naming trade-offs instead of silently absorbing more work.
00:22:46.009 --> 00:22:46.490
Pick one.
00:22:46.569 --> 00:22:47.849
It doesn't matter.
00:22:48.170 --> 00:22:51.930
Define it clearly enough that someone could see it on camera.
00:22:52.089 --> 00:22:53.210
That's my test.
00:22:53.369 --> 00:22:56.490
If a camera can't capture it, it's probably too vague.
00:22:56.730 --> 00:22:57.849
Think about that.
00:22:58.329 --> 00:23:00.490
Be more accountable, too vague.
00:23:00.650 --> 00:23:05.289
Send a status update every Friday with progress, blockers, and next step.
00:23:05.529 --> 00:23:07.049
That's much more clear.
00:23:07.369 --> 00:23:08.650
Be more positive.
00:23:08.889 --> 00:23:10.089
Too vague.
00:23:10.410 --> 00:23:15.049
Ask one possibility question before naming why something won't work.
00:23:15.289 --> 00:23:16.490
It's much more clear.
00:23:16.809 --> 00:23:18.490
Communicate more effectively.
00:23:18.730 --> 00:23:19.690
Too vague.
00:23:20.009 --> 00:23:24.009
Confirm decision, owner, and deadline before leaving the meeting.
00:23:24.170 --> 00:23:25.529
Now that's clarity.
00:23:26.009 --> 00:23:30.730
Once you have the behavior and you've identified it, we need to seed it.
00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:33.129
S-E-E-D, seed it.
00:23:33.690 --> 00:23:34.889
Use it yourself.
00:23:35.049 --> 00:23:37.210
Say it out loud, make it visible.
00:23:37.529 --> 00:23:40.569
Reward it immediately when someone else doesn't.
00:23:40.809 --> 00:23:42.569
Find the influencers.
00:23:42.809 --> 00:23:45.450
Get them into taking it on.
00:23:45.690 --> 00:23:49.769
When we're rewarding other people for doing this, don't do it in the weird kindergarten way.
00:23:49.930 --> 00:23:51.609
You don't need to be like, great job, Brenda.
00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:53.450
Use the accountability behavior.
00:23:53.609 --> 00:23:55.129
Don't do that, please.
00:23:55.289 --> 00:23:56.970
Just name it like a normal person.
00:23:57.129 --> 00:23:59.769
Brenda, thank you for clarifying the owner in a deadline.
00:23:59.849 --> 00:24:02.089
It saves us from a lot of confusion later.
00:24:02.250 --> 00:24:03.129
That's enough.
00:24:03.450 --> 00:24:07.210
People need to hear what behavior mattered and why it mattered.
00:24:07.369 --> 00:24:09.609
Then protect it when pressure hits.
00:24:09.769 --> 00:24:12.329
That's the part that most leaders end up missing.
00:24:12.410 --> 00:24:14.650
It's not enough to just introduce the behavior.
00:24:14.730 --> 00:24:16.970
You have to defend it against the old patterns.
00:24:17.129 --> 00:24:25.930
The patterns will try to pop up again and again until the new behavior is sticky enough that it's always been that way.
00:24:26.170 --> 00:24:32.410
If the team is trying to raise risks earlier and someone finally raises a risk, don't punish them for it.
00:24:32.569 --> 00:24:39.129
Even if the risk is annoying, even if it's not logical, even if your first reaction is, oh good, another problem.
00:24:39.289 --> 00:24:39.769
Fantastic.
00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:42.329
I was worried today might actually be peaceful.
00:24:42.650 --> 00:24:44.889
Protect the behavior.
00:24:45.289 --> 00:24:48.889
Instead of diminishing it, say, thank you for raising it now.
00:24:49.049 --> 00:24:50.250
Let's work the issue.
00:24:50.410 --> 00:24:53.849
Afterward, we can look at how to catch it even earlier next time.
00:24:54.089 --> 00:24:56.329
That response teaches the room.
00:24:56.569 --> 00:24:58.650
Early honesty is safe here.
00:24:58.809 --> 00:25:03.369
That is how behavior spreads by making it safe and making it easy.
00:25:03.609 --> 00:25:08.329
Let's talk about difficult behavior for a minute, because behavioral contagion is not always pretty.
00:25:08.490 --> 00:25:29.289
Sometimes the most contagious person on the team is the person spreading tension, the eye roller, the hijacker, the chronic critic, the passive-aggressive side commenter, the person who says yes in the meeting and resists afterwards or gossips afterwards or complains afterwards, person who makes every change feel like an attack on civilization itself.
00:25:29.529 --> 00:25:31.930
They think, how do I deal with this difficult person?
00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:33.529
That's where leaders get stuck.
00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:34.730
How do I deal with this?
00:25:34.889 --> 00:25:38.329
It's a fair question, but I want to give you a better one.
00:25:38.650 --> 00:25:41.289
How is this behavior spreading?
00:25:41.609 --> 00:25:48.410
Because difficult behavior becomes cultural when it gets an audience, a reward, or permission.
00:25:48.650 --> 00:25:54.089
If somebody interrupts people repeatedly and nobody redirects it or checks it, the behavior spreads.
00:25:54.250 --> 00:25:55.690
People talk over each other.
00:25:55.849 --> 00:25:58.970
People interrupt and probably raise their voices.
00:25:59.210 --> 00:26:02.170
If someone complains constantly and gets attention, guess what?
00:26:02.329 --> 00:26:03.529
That behavior is going to spread.
00:26:03.690 --> 00:26:07.210
People understand, oh look, this squeaky wheel gets the oil.
00:26:07.529 --> 00:26:10.889
Someone's sarcastic and a room laughs because everyone's uncomfortable.
00:26:11.049 --> 00:26:11.769
Guess what?
00:26:11.930 --> 00:26:13.849
That behavior spreads.
00:26:14.569 --> 00:26:18.490
So we have to address both the person and the pattern.
00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:25.450
Here's the simple way to do it: name the behavior, name the impact, name the replacement.
00:26:25.690 --> 00:26:27.369
Let me give you an example of this.
00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:34.170
In the last two meetings, when new ideas came up, you responded with sarcasm before the team explored the idea.
00:26:34.329 --> 00:26:37.369
The impact of that is people are starting to hold back.
00:26:37.609 --> 00:26:43.849
Going forward, if you see a concern, name the risk directly and ask one question before critiquing.
00:26:44.170 --> 00:26:48.250
It's very clear, it's very direct, not an attack on identity.
00:26:48.329 --> 00:26:52.650
It doesn't say you're negative, you're awful, you're a horrible person, get out of the meeting.
00:26:52.730 --> 00:26:58.089
It says, here's the behavior, here's the impact, here's the replacement.
00:26:58.329 --> 00:26:59.849
That's leadership.
00:27:00.170 --> 00:27:06.250
Now, before we close today's session on behavioral contagion, I want to give you a very simple seven-day challenge.
00:27:06.410 --> 00:27:13.529
For the next week, I want you to become a behavior spotter, not a personality critic, a behavior spotter.
00:27:13.769 --> 00:27:17.450
Day one, identify a behavior that's spreading on your team.
00:27:17.609 --> 00:27:19.529
Watch for it, look around, see it.
00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:23.049
This can be a helpful or a harmful behavior, but name it clearly.
00:27:23.289 --> 00:27:24.889
Not people are disengaged.
00:27:25.049 --> 00:27:26.490
That's way too broad.
00:27:26.730 --> 00:27:27.529
What are they doing?
00:27:27.690 --> 00:27:29.609
What are they staying silent in meetings?
00:27:29.769 --> 00:27:32.410
Are they multitasking, avoiding decisions?
00:27:33.529 --> 00:27:36.170
What does the behavior get people?
00:27:36.490 --> 00:27:38.809
We need to find out what's rewarding it.
00:27:38.970 --> 00:27:40.889
So this is the day two question.
00:27:41.129 --> 00:27:44.170
Ask, what seems to be the reward?
00:27:45.049 --> 00:27:50.009
Is it attention, relief, control, approval, avoidance, speed?
00:27:50.809 --> 00:27:55.049
On day three, I want you to define a replacement behavior.
00:27:55.289 --> 00:27:57.450
What should people be doing instead?
00:27:57.690 --> 00:28:03.129
Now, when we're designing a behavior, you need to make it small, visible, and repeatable.
00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:06.250
This is really important if you want the behavior to stick.
00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:11.289
Day four, model the replacement behavior in real moments.
00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:22.410
Use the phrase, run the process, ask the question, whatever it is that you've decided to replace the behavior with, this is where you're going to put action insights into action.
00:28:22.650 --> 00:28:24.329
This is where the rubber meets the road.
00:28:24.490 --> 00:28:27.210
Use the phrase, run the process, ask the question.
00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:31.690
Day five, reinforce it if you see someone else doing it.
00:28:31.930 --> 00:28:35.129
Name it, thank it, and connect it to the impact.
00:28:35.690 --> 00:28:40.009
Day six, interrupt the old pattern, respectively.
00:28:40.490 --> 00:28:44.009
When you see something, we have to interrupt that pattern.
00:28:44.250 --> 00:28:46.250
Something like, hey, let's pause.
00:28:46.569 --> 00:28:49.769
Seems we're moving into critique before curiosity.
00:28:50.009 --> 00:28:52.569
Can we get back to asking two questions first?
00:28:52.970 --> 00:28:56.250
Notice how I'm not blaming, I'm not disparaging.
00:28:56.490 --> 00:29:02.329
All I'm doing is identifying it and saying, let's move back to the behavior that we're approving.
00:29:02.569 --> 00:29:04.089
Or another example.
00:29:04.329 --> 00:29:11.210
Before we leave, let's confirm owner and deadline, like we want to continue to do as in this culture.
00:29:11.690 --> 00:29:14.410
Simple, direct, and we're getting it going.
00:29:14.809 --> 00:29:16.009
Day seven.
00:29:16.410 --> 00:29:18.410
This is where we start to reflect.
00:29:18.569 --> 00:29:19.930
Did you notice anything?
00:29:20.170 --> 00:29:21.210
Was there any shifts?
00:29:21.289 --> 00:29:22.329
Did someone copy it?
00:29:22.490 --> 00:29:24.410
Did it feel awkward maybe the first time?
00:29:24.650 --> 00:29:27.129
Particularly maybe checking the behavior?
00:29:27.289 --> 00:29:28.410
That's okay.
00:29:28.650 --> 00:29:32.329
This is where we reflect and say, did it help?
00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:34.170
What made the behavior easier?
00:29:34.329 --> 00:29:35.450
What made it harder?
00:29:35.690 --> 00:29:36.809
This is the work.
00:29:37.210 --> 00:29:42.889
Small behavior, visible repetition, immediate reinforcement, protected under pressure.
00:29:43.049 --> 00:29:44.410
And let me land this here.
00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:48.730
Culture is not what you announce, culture is what spreads.
00:29:48.970 --> 00:29:56.490
And an organization, the macro culture is the sum of all of the micro behaviors.
00:29:56.730 --> 00:29:59.769
The behaviors we reward, we reinforce.
00:30:00.009 --> 00:30:03.930
The behaviors we tolerate, we also reinforce.
00:30:04.170 --> 00:30:09.609
And every day we're spreading something, whether it's through our tone, actions, reactions.
00:30:11.690 --> 00:30:16.410
Though when we think about it, the question isn't, am I contagious?
00:30:16.730 --> 00:30:17.289
You are.
00:30:17.529 --> 00:30:20.809
The question is, what am I making contagious?
00:30:20.970 --> 00:30:22.730
Am I spreading clarity or confusion?
00:30:22.889 --> 00:30:24.089
Calm or panic?
00:30:24.250 --> 00:30:30.490
This week, pick a behavior we're spreading, model it, name it, reward it, protect it, and then let me know how it goes.
00:30:30.569 --> 00:30:32.009
I'd love to hear from you.
00:30:32.170 --> 00:30:33.289
Send me a message.
00:30:33.450 --> 00:30:39.369
You can reach out to us through the Talent Forge links or alternatively connect with me on LinkedIn.
00:30:39.609 --> 00:30:40.329
I want to know.
00:30:40.410 --> 00:30:47.930
And if you do reach out and share something with me that you are able to name, model, reward, protect, I want to hear about it.
00:30:48.009 --> 00:30:49.210
I want to celebrate you.
00:30:49.289 --> 00:30:54.889
And I'll provide you with a really amazing resource, a field guide of sorts for behavioral contagion.
00:30:55.129 --> 00:30:59.529
Because behavior becomes contagious when people see it, trust it, and believe it works.
00:30:59.769 --> 00:31:02.889
That's how behavior becomes culture.
00:31:03.049 --> 00:31:07.690
So thank you everybody for joining me today on this topic of behavioral contagion.
00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:16.250
I hope that it helps guide you in shifting the culture and behaviors to the positive ones where we all can thrive and survive in the workplace.
00:31:16.410 --> 00:31:19.849
Until next time, be safe, be healthy, and be well.