When A-B-C Isn't Part Of The Alphabet

For the past three years, I have been working in the mental health field. This is also where I've decided to lay my hat, in terms of my higher education. I have always thought this strange, as my longest employment was with a company in which I worked mostly with computers and information systems, not so much with people. My drastic decision to enter a new field has not been without much heartache, headache, and stress. It is very difficult to determine where to go in your life, and when you finally think you have the "right plan", you still have to experience the head butts, mistakes, and overall disappointments that come with starting something new and strange. Such is this new part of my life.

But, there is something that I am thankful for. All the wonderful people that I have met; both those that I've worked with, and those that I've worked for. Although many people will discount psychology as one of the "soft sciences", it is, nonetheless, a science. If science is the "systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation" as described by Dictionary.com, then the human condition is the most complicated aspect of science there is, and psychology, for me, has been an excellent way to make greater sense of my world and the people in it.

However, learning about human behavior is no easy task. What is even more difficult is making sense of others who have learned these principles, and yet, only apply them to one aspect of their lives. For example, I have worked in a location where the majority of the employees have a degree or are in process to obtain their degree, in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). What is this weird thing, you ask? It is the aspect of psychology that (to sum it up) states that our behaviors are governed by consequences and that when rules are applied, future behaviors can be changed using this same principle. In other words, we all do things because the end result (the consequence) either rewards us or punishes us for doing them. Okay. I get that. I have experienced in my own life times when choices I have made resulted in not-so-great results, and I ended up not repeating those choices. The great thing about ABA is that it is quantitative, meaning that you can look at empirical data that has been collected, plot it on a graph, and "see" something. Other social sciences, such as sociology, base their conclusions and theories on more qualitative data, meaning that its more about how people "feel", which is really difficult to quantitatively measure, and what conclusions can be drawn from all aspects of human behavior (not just those things that can be observed and measured). At least, that's my take on it. But, back to my issue: I've worked with these folks that have received the same learning as I have. And, although I am not a huge advocate of ABA (I think that many times, the feelings and emotions and internal thoughts we experience have a larger part to play in our behavior and those things are not observable. ABA does not place a lot of weight on those hidden or covert behaviors.), I do see its benefit and I can find a myriad of A-B-C situations in my daily life. A-B-Cs are Antecedents (a preceding circumstance that may be influencing a behavior), Behaviors (the actions that people take), and Consequences (the resulting circumstance that rewards or punishes the behavior). For example: I am driving my car to work, but I am late (antecedent). I run a red light (behavior). A cop pulls me over and gives me a ticket (consequence). I am more likely to NOT run red lights in the future because of this occurrence. Now, here's what has me so confounded and baffled:

How is it possible that the peers I've worked with have this knowledge, yet only apply it when dealing with the populations we have served, but, do not apply it in other aspects of their lives? For example, if I tell you what I am going to do, then you can call me out on it if I do not follow through, right? Okay. This is (to put it simply), what is known as "rule governed behavior". A behavior that is governed by the statement of a rule. I find this to be very helpful in two ways:
       1. It holds me accountable to what I say I am going to do.
      2. It lets the person/people involved know what I am doing, so that there is no question as to what my actions should be/will be.

Neat, right? Okay, so I tend to do this A LOT. (No kidding, ask my kids!) So, I will provide almost a litany of what I am doing in any given time period, so that folks are aware what my intentions are. Be it the next five minutes, when I am planning on "taking a shower, brushing my hair, getting dressed" or the next hour, when I am planning on "running to the store, buying some milk, and stopping to get gas". I think having children has really formulated this behavior for me, as I am the type of parent that never found springing events on my kids beneficial. I am a true believer in structure for raising children (and adults!). My point is, however, that I feel this works (and no one has yet told me it hasn't, so I will take that as a "reward" for my behavior), and I practice it often and liberally. At work. At home. In the car. Strolling down the street, you name it. It takes the surprise out of what is going on, which is also fine by me, as I don't really like surprises. I also, though, think it helps put people at ease - although, I'm sure that most folks that know me well, have found I'm rather predictable at this point. But, I had a point to make regarding this. The fact that people who have learned this as well do not utilize it in their daily lives. I think, for the older generations, this was also commonly known as "keeping one's word". It amounts to the same thing, I believe. Your actions match the words that you have said.

Now, this is frustrating mostly when it comes to workplace practices and procedures: if you are not following through with what you say consistently, with everyone, then your actions take on a "preferential" form. In other words, if you only follow through on some things with certain people, then other people may begin to view your behavior as being preferential or not. I have observed this time and time again, in many places I have worked at. Some people end up gossiping about others because it appears a supervisor may be having a dalliance with a co-worker and suddenly, that co-worker receives a promotion. Why would anyone think this is the case? Because, the actions of the supervisor did not match the "rule" that was stated. So, one employee gets "special treatment", while another one does not.

What does this matter, you wonder?

Well, I think it matters in many areas of life, but the main one being in your professional life. If you have some people in your life, such as family and friends, who you have rules with, that's fine. You have the right to treat some people better than others, particularly in your private circles. So, even if you believe that you should "treat others as you want to be treated", you may only apply that rule to your interactions with close friends and family, but not with the guy down the block who stole your car radio two years ago and now wants to be best friends. That's cool. Now, in the workplace, however, I think there needs to be a higher standard set. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen people get applauded for doing their job (in other words, nothing special), while another gets overlooked or even reprimanded for doing the same job. (I then wonder, is it their personality? Was it the execution? Not sure.) But then, I look at the relationship between the one being lauded and applauded and the one doing the lauding. Usually, they are good friends. Whereas, the one being overlooked or reprimanded is not included in this love fest.

But, Lisa, you say, that's "just the way it is"!

Well, sure. People have the right to decide who they like, who they don't like, who they are friends with, and who they hang out with. However, I think that in a professional setting, some of those "rights" are not applicable. This is about equity going hand-in-hand with professionalism.