Congratulations to Gustav, who passed his AKC Canine Good Citizen® test on his first try. In this 10-point test, 2-year-old Gustav (now Gustav CGC) showed that he has good manners at home and in the community.
The CGC program is a two-part certification program that stresses appropriate conduct for dogs and responsible pet ownership for their humans. As I was taking the pledge to attend to Gustav dog’s health, safety, exercise, training and quality of life needs, I started wondering….
What if we had a companion program for humans, a Corporate Good Citizen Program? Yes, many companies have their own formal codes of conduct programs in which employees agree to do the right things. They often are requested to read the code, become familiar with it, and then complete a paper or online form to acknowledge they’ve paid attention. Does the content really stick? And does it apply to all situations?
The beauty of CGC for canines is that they have to show they can do the right things (10 mini-tests) to an impartial evaluator. Some of these tasks don’t translate to humans all that well, such as sitting politely for petting.
However, some of the other canine items could work. Consider:
1. Accepts a friendly stranger. (CGC #1, dog doesn’t growl or bark.)
2. Appearance and grooming. (CGC #3, dog is presentable and doesn’t bark or growl when groomed.)
3. Reaction to another dog. (CGC #7, two handlers with dogs approach and exchange pleasantries and dogs show casual interest to each other and the humans but don’t bark, growl or jump up.)
4. Reaction to distractions. (CGC #9, dog doesn’t panic or show aggression when facing distractions, which can include unusual, loud noises)
5. Supervised separation. (CGC #10, dog doesn’t panic or yelp when the handler leaves the dog alone with the evaluator)
Specific tasks to evaluate humans could include:
1. Keeps promises.
2. Asks questions; doesn’t assume.
3. Keeps learning.
4. Contributes to the community.
5. Recycles, reduces and reuses.
For these actions to constitute good behavior, you have to do them repeatedly and consistently—which makes it more challenging for an evaluator to test you.
But hey, this is just a start to define what we humans need to do to be good in a bad world, or at least be good, trusted citizens in the corporate world.
In the spirit of the wonderful article, Why Doing Things Half Right Gives You the Best Results (which does not apply to ethics!), I’m just throwing out the idea right now. And I’ll trust that some creative, thoughtful people can add to and shape the test.
After all, when you’re short on time and resources as most LEAN Communicators are, we need to channel Tom Sawyer and his tactics to get all of our work done well.
Meanwhile, as a responsible dog owner, I’ve got to take Gustav out to play. I’ve also promised not to allow him to infringe on the rights of others.
And I hope I haven’t infringed on you, my gentle readers either. However, I would appreciate some ideas for a Corporate Good Citizen test! Thank you!
What behaviors do you want to recognize and reward to earn that “CGC” behind your name?
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