The Part That Made Me Uncomfortable
Here’s the part I couldn’t shake this morning. In my own training, I get feedback immediately.
I finish a lift — it’s logged.
I improve a lift — I see the trophy.
I come back next week — I know exactly what to beat.
The feedback loop is tight.
But in dentistry?
We close the month. We print the reports. We review what happened. Sometimes we celebrate the wins and issue a bonus. Our morning opportunity meetings review yesterday. Our weekly team meetings review last week. Our team retreats review last year. And yes, some of that is beneficial. Looking back is an opportunity to celebrate, identify what worked (and didn’t work) and identify where we fell short. But looking back does not change behavior.
I have a client right now who keeps trying to redesign the bonus system to change behavior. He’s thoughtful. He cares. He wants the team aligned. But every few months, he tweaks it again. He’s trying to change behavior.
But what if that’s the wrong lever?
Research on feedback loops is pretty clear: the shorter the loop between behavior and reinforcement, the stronger the habit formation. B.F. Skinner demonstrated this decades ago with operant conditioning — behaviors that are immediately reinforced are far more likely to be repeated. Delayed reinforcement weakens the association. And modern behavioral science backs it up. James Clear writes about this in Atomic Habits — habits stick when the reward is immediate, even if the larger goal is long-term.
A bonus paid 30 days later?
That’s a very delayed reinforcement.
And it’s tied to an outcome — not a specific behavior.
So I started asking myself:
Are we trying to motivate teams with a scoreboard?
Instead of building a system that reinforces the reps?
Because in my training, I’m not motivated by a hypothetical celebration in November 2025 when I hit 10 pull-ups.
I’m motivated by:
That’s it.
It’s small.
It’s immediate.
It’s specific.
And it works.
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