Play with Your Food
Focus on outcomes, not behavior -
Who cares if your children play with their food, as long as they (1) don’t make a mess, and (2) eventually eat it.
Let them have fun. You’ll build positive memories and dinner will be less of a chore.
It’s the same for many other things.
Who cares if you listen to music in the office as long as you (1) don’t disturb your co-workers, and (2) get your work done on time.
Who cares if you took a longer lunch as long as (1) no one needed you back earlier, and (2) you didn’t put your own deliverables at risk.
In the office, sometimes we focus too much on behaviors and not enough on outcomes. As long as an action doesn’t impact others’ results or our own, why should anyone care?
When we forget that we’re measuring results and not actions, we have a tendency to remove all the fun out of life.
We drown out interactions that bring joy in the name of efficiency.
