Whether you are talking about your kids, workmates or team mates we have this fascination with behaviour. We talk about behaviour like it is something that can be changed so easily and is the blame for everything.
What I have learnt through my years involved in supporting people within the health and safety world, is that behaviour is an output of many things. It is an output of people's attitude and the environments (physical and culture) that they work in.
Lewin Equation
Back in 1937 Kurt Lewin developed an equation called the Lewin Equation, this equation shows that Behaviour is the function of a person in their environment.
When we think about people, we are talking about their attitudes, perceptions, experiences, values and beliefs. That in itself is a big package to unpack. Then we add in the environment, this can be either the physical environment they work/live in or the culture they have within their work/home life or the country they were bought up in.
All of these factors have an influence on someone behaviours. If you come from a world where nobody cares for you, generally that person comes across as not caring about anything. If you people that have never experience anything bad in their life, to some they could come across as someone that has rose tinted glasses on.
None of these factors are to be seen as excuses for behaviour that is not acceptable, however it is something that as people and leaders we should take the time to explore. Be curious and ask why and the why again to understand why someone made the decision they did, you might be surprised with the answers.
ABR Model
Another way of looking at how Behaviour is an output is the ABR model. This model talks about how our attitude (thinking and feeling) results in our behaviour which then gives us our results.
For me this models works with the Lewin Equation, when we talk about the attitude we are talking about the person in their environment.
We can choose our attitudes or mindsets however these are conscious decisions that we make every day. We can continue to think that we should focus on someones behaviour and provide consequence (positive or negative) to attempt to change that behaviour. Or we can be curious to unpack more about the individual and the environment they come from.
Do we fully understand all the factors that have contributed to the behaviour that we see, remember what you see is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
If you want to learn more check out a great read about People First Leadership - People: People First People Always available from our store.
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