The power of conditioned responses

One of my team members walked towards my desk yesterday with a giant sign that read “I come in peace”. 

He‘d come over several times during the day to get advice in difficult situations or to make me aware of something that had gone wrong. This time he wanted to make sure I knew he was not bearing bad news.

Okay, he didn’t actually have a sign. But he did make it clear this was just a social visit. He wanted to avoid me developing a Pavlovian response by breaking the pattern of coming to my desk only with problems.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Pavlov’s dogs. He famously ran experiments sounding a bell while presenting food to a dog. This stimulated the natural flow of saliva in their mouth. Eventually the dog would salivate simply at the sound of the bell.

I only recently learned that these experiments were just a small part a 12 year research project into how digestive glands function which earned him a Nobel Prize in 1904.

Speaking of prizes, I think there should be a workplace award for people who go out of their way to help others avoid the effects of negative conditioned responses.

So remember this simple truth: If you want a positive long term relationship with someone, make an effort to have some amount of positive interactions with them.