Recognition and Rewards - HAWAII 5-0 Style

I know most of you think I spend every evening parsing TED speeches and dreaming up incomprehensible incentive plans.  Well – some nights but not “most” nights.  After about 9:00 pm I’m pretty TV focused – gotta get comfy for The Daily Show and Colbert.  I surf around a lot and have rather eclectic tastes.  Just about anything except “Dancing with the Stars” is fair game.

I happened to hit on the new “revised” HAWAII 5-0 last night.  I’m just old enough to remember reruns of the show – can’t say I ever saw an original episode but then again we went a few years without TV as kids when we lived in Japan.  While it’s not going to compete with the Sopranos or Deadwood for writing and story/character development, it was a fun way to spend an hour.

So what has this got to do with recognition and rewards?

Two things…

First… 

If you’re a manager take heed of the following quote from the Danno character in a conversation with MacGarrett on why he’s a cop…(they don't allow embedding but the video is available online here.  It’s roughly 30:40 into the show. You'll have to suffer through some ads -sorry.)

“I need this.  The truth is this is all I got.  I want to do what I’m good at and I want to be reminded that I’m good at what I do.”

Isn’t that what every employee wants?  To do those things they are good at and enjoy doing and have someone recognize the fact they are good at it?  Say that again.  

Second…

At the end of the show, after thwarting a major human smuggling ring,  MacGarrett gives the Danno character a gift certificate to a hotel for the weekend.  Explaining that he knew Danno had the weekend with his daughter coming up (….and he knew Danno lived in a dump) he thought Danno might like to take his daughter to the hotel and have a getaway with Dad.  Danno gets to have a father/daughter weekend and not be embarrassed by his living set-up.

Even through chasing bad-guys, getting shot at, putting together an elite strike force team in less than 24 hours, MacGarrett still had time to listen and understand the needs of his team-mates.  He used that knowledge to develop a specific recognition award that connects with the recipient.  Whadda ya think – Is Danno an engaged employee now?  Let me ask you - if MacGarrett can do with all he had going on during the show - you surely can take some time to make sure you let people know what they're good at.

These two reward and recognition references alone will get me to tune in again next week.  But I'm more curious to see if they bring up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  Whadda ya think… Is Chin Ho self-actualized?

Comments

[Trish McFarlane]

I'm an old 70's Hawaii Five-O fan so I've been excited to watch the new version. I love that you are able to pick out examples of how we can spot recognition and reward in our every day activities. Maybe this should be a recurring post for you...after each episode, share the learning points. Book 'em Paul!

[Paul Hebert]

It will be interesting to see if this is a recurring theme in the show. There were a few other moments - like when he trusted Chin Ho's answer to the deal on stealing - got the answer - move on never to speak of it again. Something to learn there from a management perspective too.

We'll see...

[Steve Browne]

Had to watch the new 5-0. Interesting that they can be a little more edgier now. Liked the characters and the balance of folks on the island and different cultures. Also, liked MacGarrett calling out the Governor on her "motives" to get him to start 5-0. Love those hidden agendas !! Thanks for always making incentives accessible for us Paul.

[Derek Irvine, Globoforce]

I'm just sorry I don't have access to the new shows immediately when I'm in Dublin. I couldn't agree more with that line: "I want to do what I’m good at and I want to be reminded that I’m good at what I do."

Isn't that true for all of us?

Great find, Paul.

[Paul Hebert]

It is available online. I was actually a bit taken aback when I heard it. Such a perfect summation of what we all want.