by Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Leadership Solutions, Inc.®

“Working in harmony with others, science shows, makes it more likely we’ll do good.” Page 199, Daniel H. Pink’s book ‘When’.  

Very recently your author witnessed a well-staged rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  After 122 years it is one of the oldest continuous rodeos around. Celebrating success was rampant at this event by both the announcer and 10,000 plus crowd, as they watched bare back horse or bull riders get punished unmercifully. Who would face such a dangerous prospect, again and again, unless there weren’t celebrations of success, even small ones, by all concerned?

The same punishing efforts happen in corporate or other organizational life, where there’s no crowd to pump participants up every time something worthwhile is accomplished. Maybe the lucky ones get a raise or a bonus or an occasional pat on the back, although those only come along every now and then: not every time they make a worthy attempt like the rodeo riders.  Perhaps corporate leaders find it tough to give out attaboys or are concerned that, if they give them out too often, people will be looking for a raise?

Most organizations crave progress, but all too often they fail to acknowledge it when it happens: sometimes at the expense of great staff pain and self sacrifice. Is this because executives accept that making progress is par for the course or because they are just blind to the efforts people make?  This doesn’t happen in highly successful enterprises, where people keep pushing forward in anticipation of the next celebration.

Top sports teams celebrate frequently, such that the enthusiasm generated carries them through to their next crucial game. They hi-five or ten, bump chests, hug each other, bump fists and so on, in addition to appropriate celebrations in the clubhouse…all things that you unfortunately see very little of in corporate, institutional or government workplaces.

Your author frequently finds himself working with leadership teams on developing initiatives to carry their organizations forward. Many of those initiatives require extra effort, considerable brainwork, and most of all teamwork; over significant periods of time to find and arrive at potential solutions. Those solutions will invariably bring untold value to their organization’s effectiveness. Even then, one of the last things such teams think about is celebrating success either during or at the end of their particular project. It’s almost as if celebrating their progress is taboo. No wonder they’re unlikely to attempt such feats again…or at least for some time to come…unlike those cowboys or sports people who repeat their feats pretty much every week. And some of those cowboys are amateurs.

So, for those organizations that really want to do well, it’s this writer’s contention that they have to make an extra effort to celebrate their key successes as often as is possible. It doesn’t have to be a major affair. If you encourage participants to consider options for celebrating the passing of certain milestones, within specific time periods, it’s amazing how creative and reasonable they will be. It doesn’t have to be your burden for organizing something. Listen again to Dan Pink in his book ‘When’: “Workplace functions are less effective if initiated by the manager. What’s better are worker-established engagements set at times and places that are convenient for the team.” They will also have a good deal of fun putting something together.

» The Mid-point Celebration – One of the critical moments for celebrating some sort of success or progress is at the mid-point of any project: be that lasting a month, three months or six months: especially as a transformational exercise. So often at the mid-point things tend to flag or lose tempo: whereas at the beginning there’s normally a great deal of enthus-iasm…hopefully at the end, too, when participants experience their moment of success.

Hence real thought should be given at the outset as to how team members can acknowledge their progress at the mid-point, so they have something to look forward to. It’s better that any interim celebration be accompanied by some sort of reckoning, as well. Such a reckoning would be best served by covering the following questions:

» What’s gone right so far?

» What could go even more right?

» Are we meeting our initial purpose?

» Do we still see all the advantages of accomplishing our purpose?

» What additional small steps will move us forward to sustain or regain momentum?

Depending upon how the team feels it meets these questions in a positive way, will have some bearing on how it celebrates at this key moment.  A fun or poignant acknowledgement of progress  could provide a vital boost to persist and stay focused on the end game.  How many key projects fizzle out or become stagnant within an alarming number of organizations because they don’t appreciate how to see projects through?  No wonder so many make such tepid progress.

One could easily argue that as much thought should go into figuring out how to cook-up a semi-celebration and end-game celebration as goes into determining how to resolve a key issue. That way such events would likely become important motivators during set-backs or rough spots, consequently considerably increase chances of team success. More importantly, they would become valuable and durable intrinsic motivators – fire in the belly – as opposed to the typical extrinsic motivators like bonuses or financial inducements…the latter two are by their very nature short-lived boosters. It’s a shame that Fred Herzberg isn’t still around to remind us of the difference between hygiene and real motivators.  As the father of motivational wisdom, he taught us that money was like dust in his mother’s house. It had to be dealt with every day because cleanliness in the name of hygiene was short lived.

It is to be hoped that this article will rekindle your interest in celebrating success. We see it every day on the sports field, knowing that the truly successful sports teams celebrate often. There’s no reason at all why corporations or institutions or government entities cannot do it either. And it can often be done with “peanuts” because it’s all about the moment and desire to let one’s hair down a little with each other at key instances of progress, rather than how much money you lavish on the occasion.  No wonder some of the best leaders are fun and a joy to be around… very often quietly so.

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