The Rat Race

Good morning! In “See You At The Top,” Zig Ziglar tells of Dr. Robert Rosenthal of Harvard and his study of the habits of rats. He took three groups of rats and assigned to each a group of college students. He explained that one group of rats was highly intelligent and to expect the very best from them in terms of getting to the end of the maze quickly. The rats in the second group, he said, had average intelligence. "They're average in ability and intelligence, so their performance will be average." The third group was idiot rats, he told his students. "They will naturally be low in performance. I'm not certain that you should even buy any cheese for them as they may not even make it to the end of the maze."

Once the six week study was over, he talked with the students. Ironically, he was right! Each group performed just as he said they would. What he then told this class of three groups surprised them: though they performed very differently, each group of rats was from the same litter. The difference in performance was the direct result of the difference in the attitudes of the students conducting the series of experiments." In short, Ziglar comments, "The students treated the rats differently because they saw them differently. The students didn't know rat language, but rats have attitudes and attitude is universal," Ziglar concludes.

Back to you and your workplace. Consider your associates and all in your work-path.

How do you treat them?

How do you see them?

Do you expect the most and best out of them?

People, like rats, often perform and work based on our expectations toward them. If we treat them as if they cannot do a job or perform at a certain level, often they don't. They fulfill our low expectation. The reverse is true, too, however. When we express our confidence in our employees or coworkers, they often achieve so much more simply because they know they are expected to do so. They really do play off our attitudes toward them.

In John 4, Jesus encounters a woman at a well who had been put down all her life by her culture. He and this woman were members of different races; it was unthinkable that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan, especially a Jewish man. But Jesus did. It thoroughly shocked the woman. Jesus saw her differently than perhaps any other man ever had. He expected something different, better, and higher from her. He wanted more for her. Her life was instantly transformed because of the way He related to and managed their interaction and encounter.

Today' Workplace Challenge: It's your turn. Expect the best from your employees or work associates. Ascribe to them great value. Examine your own attitude.

Do you think highly of them? "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Phil.2:5)

When we "believe" in others, often they begin to believe in themselves. More importantly, when we believe in them, some of them eventually believe in God due to the hope and clarity they suddenly receive as a result of our attitude and subsequent investment.

You are awesome in God's eyes.

“TheOther6Days” – WB Journal