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WIFM?

Last updated by Jeff Hajek on March 25, 2021

“WIFM” is a near-acronym for “What’s in it for me?”

People tend to be rather logical, cause-and-effect types of creatures. They act when there is a reason to act. The basic premise of this acronym is that when that result of an action is in the best interest of a person, they are more likely to choose to do it.

That’s not to say that people are inherently selfish. Rather, it just means that people go through a very rapid, internal decision-making process and immediately screen anything that they are asked to do against the importance of all the other things they have to get done. It makes perfect sense that the things that benefit them the most will tend to take precedence.

What this means in the continuous improvement world is that changes should benefit both the company and the individual. If you pay attention to what an employee gets out of a change, then they will be more likely to internalize the new process. Paying attention to the needs of employees also has a tendency to build a more engaged workforce.

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3 Comments

Sarah · September 9, 2020 at 5:01 pm

Great short to the point description. I used this to explain the method to my team as a method to engage their coworkers in their projects. Thank you.

Md Rafiqul BARI · June 6, 2020 at 6:56 am

Enjoyed going through the elaboration of the term.

    Jeff Hajek · June 10, 2020 at 1:39 pm

    Thanks for the compliment. Glad it was helpful.
    -Jeff

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