- Give a creature comfort.
Contribute a fan for the office, a radio to use. - A new mug.
Give a new mug with a humorous or serious
recognition printed on it. - A bouquet of balloons.
Personally deliver it to the team’s area. - “Let them eat cake.”
Treat them with a special cake. - A nonbirthday party.
Celebrate no one’s birthday.
There is a story in the book, In Search of Excellence, by Peters
and Waterman, about a company that desperately needed a
technical advance for it to survive in its early days. Late one
evening, a scientist rushed into the president’s office with a
working prototype that was just what they needed to keep the
business afloat. Dumbfounded at the elegance of the solution and
wanting to reward the scientist, the president started rummaging
through his desk drawers. He leaned over to the scientist and said,
“Here!” giving him the only thing he had — a banana. From then
on, a tradition was started, and a small “gold banana” pin has been
the highest accolade for achievement at that company. The point:
bananas work. What’s your idea?
A corollary to that story: Tom Peters has been mentioned in
this book several times. Do you recognize Robert Waterman? Or
perhaps Nancy Austin, another co-author of Peters’? Why is it that
Tom Peters is instantly known but not his associates? Consider
that when you give out rewards. Do you want to accelerate one
person’s performance or career? Do you want the team to
be known throughout the organization and extolled for
its achievements?
Coaching, Mentoring and Managing6