If you attended B-School or spent any time studying organizations, you likely have heard of the Hawthorne Effect. This phenomenon gets its name from productivity studies conducted in the late 1920s at the Hawthorne Works, a Chicago area plant of the Western Electric company. The findings are fascinating and worth five minutes of Wikipedia reading. The upshot is that the productivity of workers consistently increased throughout the period of time that they were being analyzed, without regard to the factors being manipulated.
The implications are significant. Simply by expressing interest in worker productivity, output capacity can be increased. Human behavior being what it is, there is every reason to believe that we can improve our own capacity simply by focusing on our own development.
At first blush, this may not feel like an “aha” moment. But think about it. When was the last time you focused intently on your own development? When you earnestly invested in building your capability? If this was Family Feud, the survey would probably read “in college” for a vast majority of us. Not unusual, but also not great. Unless, of course you happen to be in the executive coaching business.
So many of the leaders that I have had the privilege of working with as an executive coach have benefited from being in a relationship whereby they are disciplined to focus on their own development. Of course I assist them with strategy, tools, plans and approaches, but a significant lift comes from the fact that they are focused on themselves, a sort of internal Hawthorne Effect.
If I can help others to realize the benefit of this effect by ensuring that they attend to their own development, you can do the same thing for yourself. It could not be easier. Discipline yourself to work on your developmental need areas. Simple enough, but also quite difficult. Difficult because so many people do not have a clear understanding of the areas in which they need to develop to continue to grow. Well, there is a simple solution to this issue as well, ask. Begin with your boss.
Ask your boss about the areas that you should improve in and suggestions for doing so. They should be as interested and invested as you are in your future growth. Once you know what to focus on and suggestions for doing so, everything else is in your control. Just do it. You can create your own Hawthorne Effect and by so doing, take your capability, contribution and potential to the next level.
Matthew Angello is the Founder and Principal of Bright Tree Consulting Group, LLC and a former board-level executive in Fortune 500 companies. He offers highly personalized and effective coaching for individuals seeking to unleash their potential, move their performance to the next level and prepare for future challenges. Visit our website to learn about our services and enjoy our free downloads- http://www.brighttreecg.com.
