WE, as human beings, crave positive reinforcement at every level, conscious and subconcious.
It’s how our brains, our organs, our cells, and deeper levels of organism know to continue or discontinue input and direction. We inhale and exhale, we eat and drink, we sleep, we walk by putting one foot ahead of the other, we clear the ramp around our plane before starting the engine, we use rudder inputs to stay on the center line while taxiing, we modify our pitch on take off to maintain a desired airspeed, we love the people who treat us well, we give of ourselves for the way it makes us feel.
Why do we also instigate negative responses to our actions at times?
Perhaps we settle for any kind of attention when positive outcomes and feedback seem unavailable: we speed, we overeat, we smoke, we cheat, we fly into marginal conditions, we overload our airplanes, and we imagine we can take an unstable approach and turn it into a safe landing and we even frequent casinos. But still I have to ask, why do we do the things that experience has taught us will not likely work out in our favor? I’d say our leaders, mentors, teachers and our-selves have paved the pathway for these behaviors by letting negative cause-and-effect into our repertoire.
WE get the behaviors we focus on.
Ken Blanchard in his parable-style book “Whale Done” said it best: “we get the behaviors we focus on.” The medium for his message is the training of killer whales at SeaWorld in Florida. He ponders just how one manages to get a whale to follow a program when neither the trainer nor the subjects speak the same language? One of my favorite lines in the book comes from one of the whale-trainers: “One thing we learned quickly was that it doesn’t make much sense to punish a killer whale and then ask a trainer to get in the water with him.”
The same could be said for flight instructors, especially while we are in the process of building a vocabulary of common experiences with our students.
How then do we react when a desired outcome becomes elusive? Whale Done suggests that there are three possible responses to student actions:
- no response,
- redirection
- positive reinforcement.
Notice that a negative response is not one of the choices…
Our lives, and likely our training as pilots, are littered with negative feedback that serves to cement the impression that a particular course of action will result in a failed outcome. Again, we get the behaviors we focus on.
What if we were to carefully craft every one of our responses to fit these new criteria: no response, redirection, or positive, omitting the negative?
The result would be powerful not only in terms of the immediate outcome, but also in terms of the long term recall of a particular skill or piece of information.
Let’s try this out on a common event in pilot training, the approach to landing. First, be sure to set the task up for success with adequate time, distance, altitude, airspeed, and configuration. As the task evolves, use positive reinforcement by being proactive in recognizing proper responses such as: effective use of throttle to control flight path, response to wind shear, centerline control, pitch control, and scan. When any of these parameters fall short, initially try the no response method and wait to see if the pilot self-identifies the error and takes effective corrective action. When it becomes clear that the desired outcome will be compromised, begin the process of redirecting the pilot toward a new outcome, likely a go-around. I present this exercise from the perspective of a flight instructor, but it can be tailored to the solo pilot as well.
Now, for those of you who are not pilots, or actually for all of us as we navigate our lives outside the cockpit, the power of positive interactions applies equally to how we relate to other people. Let’s imagine we walk into a restaurant for a nice meal and we can’t quite connect with the waiter. Speaking for myself, I’m the guy who is likely to feel growing frustration with the lack of focused attention by the waiter, which will, of course, result in mistakes that affect my meal. I’m then the guy that is likely to negatively respond to him. The result will always be awkward and unsatisfying for all parties involved.
There is, of course, a way to end up with a more satisfying meal and overall experience. Early in the meal I could test out no response to errors combined with managing my own expectations, positively responding to micro-actions/events that do occur, and redirecting my expectations and requests moving forward.
Finally, as we look into bringing these ideas into our daily lives, it is important that we act naturally!
I personally know when I’m being handled and I don’t like it. “How does that make you feel?” or “Nice job, I really like the way you handled that situation.” It gives me the shivers! There is no prescribed script for these positive interactions; so we all have to find our own voice. Start by simply noticing the behaviors you want to reinforce, then try internally marking the moment. Then, when you are comfortable, try marking the moment with a hand gesture or simple one-word response: good, nice, yes. The timing and unobtrusive-ness of your response is everything.
The power of positive reinforcement and positive reactions is in the way they pave the way for enhanced learning, enhanced relationships, and more satisfying experiences. Go for the micro- as well as the macro-level, not only the big picture but also the little satisfying smiles, glances, and comments.
