A few weeks ago, I wrote a post for Jarkko Laine entitled Product of Your Environment. I wanted to follow that up with a few more thoughts. Coming out of the Catalyst Conference over the weekend, and having our first doctor’s appointment for my pregnant wife, I’m feeling very responsible for the success of my family and business, even more so than usual. This idea of being a product of your environment has never been more real than it is now, as I am working on creating the environment into which my child will be born.

Andy Stanley, the pastor at North Point Community Church, leadership author and mentor, spoke at the catalyst conference with a topic very close the mine today. He says that “systems create behaviors,” and not the other way around. He tells the story of his two teenage sons whose job it is to take out the trash. Every Tuesday evening, he gets home to find the trash is not out, so he asks his sons once and they say “yeah, yeah, we’ll get it,” but nothing gets done. He asks again, garnering the same response. Then he begins to get angry and they get the message and take out the trash. He created a system that says, “you really only have to take the trash out once I get mad.”

So, finally Andy decides to change this systems so as to change the behavior. The next Tuesday, he gets home and takes out the trash. The boys are ecstatic! “Thanks, dad!”

No problem,” Andy replied, “but now I get your allowance.”

The next Tuesday, The trash is at the curb when he gets home from work.

Some say if you want it done right you have to do it yourself. I say, “if you want it done right, create systems that encourage doing it right!” I believe that this works on a personal scale as well. For instance, those of you working from home know that it is very easy to get caught up in anything but work from time to time. So you must create systems that encourage you to get the job done. I use Salesforce.com for my CRM system, and all the tasks turn red if I don’t get to them that day.

Granted, red letters are not the end of the world, but it is nice to see that you’ve gotten it all done and when you wake up on Monday, you have no red.

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