Impulsive Joy

Have you ever come across a challenging kid?  You know the kind of kid that makes you inhale an extra deep breath for a little extra patience?

Or maybe you are buying into the myth that volunteers won’t learn a new system…they are too set in their ways.  Or that church leadership won’t ever be open to your ideas.  That door is closed.

I was reminded this week while reading “Switch”,  by Dan and Chip Heath, about a little lesson learned way back in my years studying Psychology at U.C. Santa Barbara.  It’s called the “Fundamental Attribution Error”

“We are frequently blind to the power of situations.”

When observing behavior, we will often explain it in terms of internal disposition, such as personality traits, character, motives and abilities.  The Fundamental Attribution Error lies in our propensity to attribute people’s behavior to their internal characteristics rather than the situation they are in.

As the Heath brothers point out in their book, this is why we are so fascinated by shows like The Dog Whisperer or Supernanny. It’s the horribly behaved dog turned passive pooch.  Or the tyrannical child turned boy scout.  All are reformed by the power of bringing in a new system of discipline.  If we recognized the Fundamental Attribution Error, it would be like watching scalding hot water transform into ice cubes after enough time in the freezer.

What does that mean for you and me?

Run behavior problems (ahem, “opportunities for ministry”) through the environmental filter.

What environmental factors might be influencing the problem?  Inconsistent volunteers?  Vague rules of conduct?  Too much “down time” which quickly turns into boredom? Or perhaps there is even an environmental filter at home that is affecting the child’s emotional response to a loving God?

Believe in others.

Can you imagine if someone labeled you stubborn or unable to learn?  You would likely explain their “evidence” away by the situation you were in during their observation.  So let’s believe in the potential of those around us — kids and adults.

Tweaking the environment is about making the right behavior a little bit easier and the wrong behavior a little bit harder.

Is there something you can change in the situation to alter the behavior?  Here’s an example… You’re frustrated by the take-home sheets on the floor.  What if you email them home on Monday instead with clear directions to parents.  Or your volunteers aren’t coming prepared for their small group activities — can you prepare a quick video tutorial the week before? (Some volunteers are visual learners!)  What about reviewing the activities in a pre-service huddle?

I love this classic Bill Cosby clip of “Jeffrey”.  Poor kid…I think he got a bad rap.  We’ve all had “Jeffrey moments” — but that does not necessarily define the character of our “Jeffrey”.

The bottom line is that often big change can happen if we simply “shape the path” of where we want people to go. How do you overcome Fundamental Attribution Error?

ImpulsiveJoy Reads: For more great ideas on how to change things when change is hard, pick up a copy of “Switch” by Chip Heath & Dan Heath.