Customer Reviews

Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement

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After being promoted to management, I needed to learn how to manage. And my company offered us three day's worth of training... hardly enough to really grasp the ins and outs of how to shape other's behavior. However, the most highly skilled of the presenters mentioned this book, and felt that behavioral modification was the only true key to managing effectively.

I scoffed initially.

Being a twentieth century American, I thought behaviorism was dead. Skinner struck me as cold ... but, being a scientific and open-minded man, I purchased the book. And I'm glad I did.

I can say this without batting an eye: because of Aubrey Daniels' book, not only are my teams consistently strong performing teams, I know how I got there. So, when I get a new batch of team members, I can apply the same principles, and see the results right away. In fact, learning about this book is the most useful thing I learned in that aforementioned week of leadership training.

What are Daniel's principles? First of all, that people do what they do because of reinforcement. Reinforcement comes in two main forms: positive and negative. Negative reinforcement does not necessarily mean punishment, but that positive reinforcement is withheld. Punishment is a subset of negative reinforcement, largely overused.

Daniels then goes on to show the "ABC's" of behavior (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequences), and illustrate why some behaviors are not easy to shape (the consequences are uncertain). Once you understand the basics, it becomes easy to look for opportunities to shape your reports' behaviors by rewarding what you want then to do ... making the UNCERTAIN consequence CERTAIN: "If I do this, my manager will be happy," instead of the UNCERTAIN, "I am not sure if this will work... Will my peers scoff at me?..." Daniels finishes up with several insightful case studies about how his principles have been applied in the real world. This can give you solid ideas on how to apply them in your neck of the woods.


All told, one of the greatest, most practical, and easiest to use management books I've read. And, thanks to Skinner and a rash of behaviorists in the 50's and 60's, the most scientifically validated.

Dr. Daniels brings the subject of behavior analysis to a level where human resource managers can understand the concepts of performance management and actually apply his principles of scientific employee management. For anti-behaviorists (those who fear being controlled by the human tendency to adapt behavior in order to receive rewards and avoid punishment) this book is a nightmare. Daniels succinctly describes the behavior analysis process and how employers can use it to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency by "pinpointing" job performance standards and incentive programs. A must read for any manager. His chapter on incentive plans was particularly insightful and illustrates the fallacies of most reward systems.

Simple and straight forward. Great guide to understand human behavior and an outstanding blue print for controlling consequinces. Without a doubt one of the best, if not the best, books on motivation that I have ever read. Why and how to. Rudy Andl, Pres. IBC Recruiting Services Inc. IBCRecruiting.com

Business is characterized by a lot of common sense solutions. But in fact, the many books that are released articulate only the particular view and experiences of the author. A scientific based book about how to understand and change behavior in organizations was lacking. Aubrey Daniels has made the remarkable accomplishment of writing a book that is both strongly based in the science of behavior analysis, as easy to read and to use. This is one of the best books that has been written about business, also because it demonstrates that business is behavior.

Drs. M.M. Rietdijk, Nyenrode University, The Netherlands

Bringing Out the Best is not so much a book to have read, but rather a book to read, review and reference. Although there are many important points made in this book that can help you understand people and why they often behave in "strange and mysterious ways" I think the most important knowledge to be gained is the distinction between reinforcement and recognition or rewards. Today, when so many "pop" writers are claiming that people are demotivated by extrinsic rewards, Dr. Daniels is the only business writer even attempting to explain that reinforcement whether it occurs naturally (that is the work itself provides reinforcement and satisfaction) or given extrinsically, (that is, someone else notices good work and complements the worker) is significantly different than the typical rewards and recognition programs so often developed in businesses today. This book should be read by any one who has ever been disappointed by an attempt to reward or by an attempt to be rewarded. This includes managers, parents, ministers and anyone else who is expected to influence and motivate others.

Dr. Daniels' writings are a practical guide to the application of behavioral principles in organizational settings. As such this book is second to none and a must read for those charged with the responsibility of managing performance. This approach has time and time again proven very effective, yielding dividends for those who have seriously attempted to understand and apply behavioral principles in the workplace. Although the book focuses primarily on applications in business, it also demonstrates relevance to peoples' personal life by describing how we should treat others to maximize performance and build good relationships. It is unfortunate that those who lack the understanding of behaviorism, naively describing it as associationism and a way to "treat-people-as-mechanical-objects," feel the need to cast value judgment on one of very few successful extrapolations of psychological principles to our everyday lives. It is fortunate, however, that such evaluations are erroneous, at best.

Wow - This book, if you are willing to listen, will help you become aware of what is going on around you. At least, it did for me. Every couple of pages, I found myself saying "oh .. oh yes.. of course!" If nothing else, this book made me realize that I'm not crazy nor am I alone; that my environment, particularly the standard salary compensation system, really is de-motivating. No wonder I and so many others often struggle with procrastination!

The concepts are explained very well and he does a very nice job drawing out the implications to specific examples that most readers will immediately relate to. This book was one of the most satisfying reads I've had in a long time.

Daniels writes in an easy-to-read style (I read the book on an airplane) and clearly conveys his main premise: people perform better with positive reinforcement than with negative punishment. I found his examples easy to relate to. Some were drawn from every-day life (e.g., motivators for wearing seatbelts). Many were drawn from a work context, which were more helpful to me. After I read it, I loaned it to my manager at work. Daniels explains his subject well, draws from abundant experience from his consulting work, and explains every-day people psychology in non-technical terms. He also discussed motivators (good) versus manipulation (bad). I appreciated the small size of the book and its light weight, which made it easy to carry on a business trip.

I have used Bringing Out the Best in People throughout Latin America and here in the States for several years. When I have control of a client project, this book is required reading. I get groans at first from supervisors and managers, but it is amazing what happens after they read it. They come back and immediately start talking about NICs, PICs, etc. It is fun but keeps me on my toes from that point forward as they watch my every move!

Although Daniels talks of motivating and brining out top performance from individuals within organizations, the concepts definitely applies and should be used in personal/family relationships as well. The concepts even hold true as I train my dog and two macaws as uncertain/certain, future consequences do not work for them! The beauty is that this book makes you stop and think.

This book describes a process that if implemented properly can have a dramatic impact on you organization.

The book is easy to read and understand. There is an over emphasis on B.F. Skinner, consequences and positive reinforcement that is necessary to help manager develop new skills. The new skill is catching people doing the right things and telling them about it. By unleashing this process in an engineering drafting department the throughput more than doubled, projects are delivered complete the first time 98% of the time, and target dates are met or delivered early.

The process works. Some people do this naturally, but many of us are so focused on results we forget that people attain those results for us. Some day every manager will manage this way.