[acb-hsp] The Mouthwash Principle

[peter altschul]

The Mouthwash Principle: For Max Effectiveness At Work, Rinse And 
Repeat
  BY Peter Bregman 05-23-2012 6:20 AM
  This article is written by a member of our expert contributor 
community.
  I had what I considered a pretty solid dental routine: floss 
and brush twice a day.  That's enough, right?
  Not according to my new dentist.  After hmmming and oooooing 
and picking and sticking at my teeth, he gave me a new, more 
cumbersome routine.  Now, I floss, then brush, then use a pick 
between my teeth and, finally, fluoride and anti-bacterial 
washes.
  Here's the amazing thing: often, it's not until the 
anti-bacterial wash step that I get every last food particle out.  
In other words, even all the flossing and the brushing and the 
picking don't quite get the job done.  It takes all that, plus 
the final swishing, to get everything clean.
  I was brushing my teeth this morning, thinking about this as I 
listened to my local National Public Radio's spring campaign to 
raise funds.  For close to a week now they've been asking for 
pledges.  Each time I heard their request, I decided I would 
pledge.  And yet, I'm embarrassed to say, it took until 
today--the last day of their pledge drive--to actually donate.
  It's the mouthwash principle.  And it's critical to powerful 
leadership.  If you want to make an impact on people, to 
influence their behavior in some way, you have to keep sharing 
the message, coming at it from different angles and at different 
times long after you think you're done.
  Politicians know this as they give their stump speeches for the 
thousandth time.  So do advertisers, who keep repeating the same 
jingle over and over again until it sticks in your head.
  This may sound obvious, but it's not what most of us do.  Many 
managers and leaders say something once, twice, maybe three 
times, and expect the message to get through.  Then they get 
exasperated when other people's behavior deviates from the 
expectations that were so clearly stated.
  Here's the problem: there's a big difference between saying 
something and hearing it.  When you say something, it's probably 
been brewing for some time.  You've already tossed it around in 
your head, maybe talked to a few other people about it, and then 
come to a final decision or thought.  In other words, you had a 
process.  Plus, you're the one who is saying it so it's probably 
more important to you than anyone else.  Saying it once seems 
plenty.
  But when you hear it or read it, you're doing so for the first 
time and in the context of many other messages that are flying at 
you.  It's not your message.  For the message to rise above the 
cacophony of other messages and thoughts, it needs to be 
repeated.
  So even though repeating it several times seems excessive to 
you when you're speaking, it's barely enough to get the message 
across.  It's the mouthwash principle.
  Richard (stnames have been changedst), one of my clients, the 
CEO of a $900 million company, recently used the mouthwash 
principle well.  We were preparing for an offsite and he sent out 
an email detailing several issues that were up for discussion.  
There was one thing, however that the CEO knew would consume too 
much time in the meeting--we'll call it option D--and it was not 
up for discussion, even though some people on the team would have 
liked it to be.
  So, in the email, he made the point that option D was not up 
for discussion three times--at the beginning, in the middle, and 
at the end.  The last time he wrote it, HE PUT IT IN CAPS.
  Then, when he was opening the meeting, after talking about what 
we would be discussing, he reminded everyone that he knew he was 
being overbearing about this but he really didn't want to waste 
time discussing option D.  It's the mouthwash principle, and it 
worked.
  This isn't just about impacting others, it also about impacting 
ourselves.  How often have you read something a second time and 
found things you missed the first? And how often have you thought 
you learned something, changed a behavior, or made a decision, 
only to find yourself backsliding? It's why, even though that 
last book on leadership or communication or time management was 
really good, you'll probably need to read another one on the same 
topic soon.  It's not that each book doesn't have the perfect 
formula to make you a flawless leader or communicator or time 
manager.  It's just that you need to go over the same things 
multiple times in order to get those last specks of 
counterproductive behavior out of your system.  In other words, 
even when we're speaking to ourselves, we don't listen that well.
  It's always a good idea to become a better listener.  But don't 
rely on other people's listening as a strategy to get your point 
across.  A better strategy? Become comfortable with repetition.  
Say things more often than you think necessary and resist the 
urge to throw your hands up in exasperation when people don't do 
what you so clearly explained they should.  Expect them not to.
  This morning, after brushing, flossing, picking, and swishing 
my own teeth, I asked my kids--for the fourth time--whether they 
had brushed their teeth.  Two out of the three had.  I'm glad I 
asked that fourth time.
  Copyright B) 2012 Mansueto Ventures LLC.  All rights reserved.