Keeping score

Next time you have a bunch of humans, large or small, in front of you try this. 

Split the group into two teams.

Split the room/pitch into two halves. 

And you can’t get tagged in your half of the room/pitch.

The objective is to get across to the opponent’s half without getting tagged. Each person across is one point. The team with the most players to have successfully crossed the opponent’s half into the end goal is the winner. 

Now watch what happens. Who stays around to defend and who wants to score points for the team?

I can tell you, that in my girl’s football team, out of a group of twenty, I have two girls who do the same thing each time and every time. One bolts to try to score a point. The other is always the last in her half, defending. 

I’m telling you. I never tell them. I just let it happen. 

And my point?

Watch what people do. Some are very clear about what they do, most are not. 

Hard measures work for some people. Points scored. Money made. 

Soft measures work for others. How do you make others feel? How do you feel?

And perhaps the most helpful is a combination of the two, hard and soft measures, particularly if you are not yet sure what works for you.

Keeping score is helpful. But we don’t all keep the same score.