"Behavior" in Four Secrets "When you objectively observe others, there is always behavior to be noticed. You can be talking face-to-face, listening on the phone, or watching across a crowded room." Chapter 2 "There is a well-documented [and measurable] phenom-enon of people using behaviors in the work-place that are different from their natural preferences. Sometimes our jobs force us to fake it!" Chapter 3 "Our best bet for comm-unicating with or influencing others is to try to match our approach to their behavioral needs." Chapter 2 "Our new understanding of behavior allows us to 'see' things at work that might have been invisible before." Chapter 3

The Secret of Behavior
Exercises

Each new perspective allows you to interpret what you see in a new and useful way.  New interpretations lead to new understanding, which leads to new actions and ultimately new results. This is the only way to permanently defeat job misery and to like work again.

			The perspective of Behavior converts what we can see a person doing into information about how to influence that person.

If you are reading Four Secrets to Liking Your Work, you may have tried some of the exercises in Chapters 2 and 3.  These exercises help you to work alone to build expertise with your Behavioral perspective.

The Behavioral perspective can also be used by teams, to increase their effectiveness, enhance their communication, or just have some fun!
 

Try the following exercise with any team or group:

1. Place a copy of Four Secrets on a table, open to Figure 2-1 on page 23.  Imagine that the figure was enlarged to take up the whole table.
2. Make sure everyone has a basic understanding of the factors in the figure.   Have each person move to the edge of the table nearest to his or her strongest factor(s). 
3. Notice where people are standing.  Are team members distributed fairly evenly across different factors, or are they clustered in certain areas?
4. Discuss the following questions as a group:
   a. Which of us are similar?  Which of us seem to be opposites?
   b. What does this tell us about our group's focus?  About our approach?
   c. Is there a majority?  Is anyone different from that majority?
   d. How does each of us contribute to the team?

Why this works: This exercise begins a dialogue about the relationship between the behavior of the individuals, and the work of the team.

Why it's not enough:  Self-identification of behavioral factors is not always accurate. Often, our behavioral makeup has components of which we are not fully aware.  Also, about half of us are best described by complex blends of behaviors which are not well-represented at the edges of the table.  Teams that invest in measurement of these factors get a more accurate picture of strengths, weaknesses, and risks.  (Learn more...)