Use Nouns, Not Verbs

I have just finished reading a book entitled Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World. In this thoroughly engaging and insightful read, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania professor Adam Grant identifies the surprising characteristics of people who actually change the world. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, Grant defends the notion of strategic procrastination, critiques the usefulness of a devil's advocate, and promotes the idea that originals aren't necessarily qualitatively better than their peers; they simply produce more ideas.

Also, he investigates why some children chose to do the right thing: is it a result of their behavior or their character receiving attention? Psychologist Christoper Bryan performed a creative experiment to see how kids would respond when issued different commands. Children ranging from the ages of three to six were chosen to clean up toys around a play area. The researchers randomly gave the children different commands: Some of them were asked to be helpers, while others were asked to help. The results? The children who were asked to be helpers were 22 percent to 29 percent more likely to clean up the toys.

Think about it. If you're told "Please don't cheat," you can still look at yourself in the mirror because it was a one-time action. However, if you're instructed "Please don't be a cheater," this goes directly to your identity, and cheating is not simply something you do; it's who you are. Amazingly, as a matter of fact, Bryan and his research team cut cheating in half when they changed the phrase from "Please don't cheat" to "Please don't be a cheater."

How does this affect your life? If you are a teacher, instead of praising children's behavior ("You were good today"), acknowledge their character ("You are a good student"). If you are a pastor who is addressing your congregation about various sins, try using nouns ("God doesn't want you to be an adulterer, a fornicator, or an alcoholic"), not verbs ("don't commit adultery or don't drink alcohol"). 

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