Specific, sincere acknowledgement changes behaviour more reliably than instruction does, because the desire to be valued is close to universal.
Carnegie distinguished appreciation from flattery on the ground that one is specific and meant and the other is neither. The distinction matters empirically: recognition that is generic or manifestly instrumental produces cynicism, and the research on perceived support finds the same, with discretionary treatment read as evidence of regard.
In practice
- A specific note about what someone actually did outperforms a company-wide recognition scheme.
- A manager who praises everything is providing no information and is heard as providing none.
- Standing
- Consistent with work on perceived organisational support and on feedback, both of which find recognition predicting discretionary effort. Carnegie's insistence on sincerity is the load-bearing part and the part most often dropped.
- Subject
- Communication & Media
- Essay
- Rules for speaking, writing and disagreeing