Praising achievement or ''Atta boy, Jim''
By James Olsen, Ph.D.


I once worked for a consulting firm that developed instructional materials for corporate clients to use in training their management. Every time I wrote something the female CEO thought was creative (she was also a mother of three children), she would turn to me in the group and say, “Atta boy, Jim.” I thought it was charming and funny, but I have to admit that to this day I recall those “Atta boys” with pleasure. Indeed, whenever a staff member did something particularly good, he or she was sure to receive appropriate public praise.

I find that many of the students we’ve had over the years have not received praise very often. I don’t mean phony unwarranted praise. A child quickly recognizes dishonest recognition. I mean sincere adulation from a parent or a teacher. There are many opportunities to do this and unfortunately many of them are missed. Examples:

1.You go through a child’s school notebook and point out to him or her something like adding fractions or finding information to answer a question and say, “You know a few weeks ago, you couldn’t do that and now you can.” That’s very powerful because it’s direct, factual and honest. It makes that child feel good because the academic achievement has been recognized. 

2. If your youngster expresses an idea clearly or hits a tennis ball well or learns a new skill or helps you with some task at home or helps another person, you can compliment the effort and the accomplishment. Why not? 

3. When faced with a new challenge such as doing a difficult homework assignment, learning how to solve an algebraic equation or giving a short talk to the class, an “Atta boy” may well be appropriate, even overdue. Most of us never received much adulation in our lives. I went to Catholic elementary and secondary schools. I still remember the time I was in the third grade and the nun gave me a small statue of the Virgin Mary as a prize for my composition. When was the last time you gave a tangible reward to your kid or simply said, “Atta boy”? 

We remember these moments because they psychologically nourish and equip us to face new obstacles with confidence in our ability to succeed. Without this type of emotional report, why bother to get out of bed in the morning? I recall an intern I had on an international US State Department education project where we were establishing radio schools in poverty-stricken rural areas. I turned to him when we realized that one community was flooded three months of the year during the rainy season and asked how could we reach the school? Andy turned to me, thought for a while and said, “Well, Jim, I don’t know the answer to this problem right now but we will solve it.”

Andy was right. We bought donkeys and forded the streams when we had to. When I was discouraged, Andy would say, “I know we can do that, Jim, but we need to think about it.” And after we (he) solved it, I would say, “Attaboy, Andy.” 

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