Accelerate learning by praising the “approximately right” early and often

Complex skills don’t arrive in one piece, they grow in layers. Shaping is the science of reinforcing small, correct steps that lead to a final behavior. Early on, you praise “approximately right” actions to help the learner discover the path. As competence grows, you narrow praise to “exactly right,” then fade it as they internalize standards. This isn’t being lenient, it’s being precise about how humans acquire skill.

Picture a colleague learning code review. On day one, you cheer when they spot any bug, even a minor typo, because it orients their attention correctly. By week three, you praise only when they explain why an issue matters and suggest a fix. By week six, the praise shifts to speed and coverage. One engineer told me the click of her keyboard and a quick “nice catch, here’s why that matters” kept her focused through the afternoon slump.

The power of shaping lies in making the right path feel rewarding at the exact moment the brain is trying to map it. If you wait to praise until perfection, novices wander or quit. If you praise off-target behavior, you reinforce noise. The art is in choosing steps that are small enough to hit, yet aligned with the final behavior. I might be wrong, but many stalled trainings trace back to steps that were too big or praise that was too vague.

This method reflects principles from operant learning: behavior followed quickly by positive consequences is more likely to repeat. It also taps attention as a limited resource, steering it toward features that define quality. Over time, as the learner begins to notice and value these features on their own, you shift from external reinforcement to self-reinforcement, which is the real goal.

Start by describing the final behavior in camera-ready detail, then break it into tiny, directional steps that someone new can actually hit today. The moment you see a correct step, give a short, specific praise that names what worked and why it matters, then keep raising the standard as consistency appears. Avoid jumping difficulty too fast or praising off-target actions, and slowly taper praise as the person starts catching themselves doing it right. Done well, each step feels doable and meaningful, and the path to excellence stays visible. Try mapping the first three steps for a current learner this afternoon.