The Experiment that Shocked People...and the World

In the early 1960s, Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a now-infamous experiment on obedience to authority. At the heart of it was a simple but chilling question:

Would ordinary people, under the direction of a perceived authority figure, harm another person—even if it went against their own values?

Participants believed they were part of a scientific study on memory and learning. Each person was assigned the role of "teacher," while another person—the "learner"—was strapped into a chair in another room. Unbeknownst to the participant, the learner was actually an actor and wasn’t being shocked at all.

The teacher's job was to administer increasingly powerful electric shocks each time the learner gave a wrong answer. The shock generator ranged from 15 volts to a maximum of 450 volts, labeled with warnings like "Danger: Severe Shock." As the voltage increased, the learner began crying out in pain, pounding the wall, and eventually fell silent.

And here’s the punch in the gut:

65% of participants continued all the way to the maximum 450 volts.

They didn’t do it gleefully. Many were visibly distressed—sweating, trembling, biting their lips. Some pleaded with the experimenter. But when calmly prompted with statements like, "The experiment requires that you continue," or "You have no other choice, you must go on," most of them did just that.

They obeyed.

The Dilemma: Rule vs. Value

From a behavioral science lens, this wasn’t about cruelty. It was about competing rules and which one had more control over behavior. Milgram's participants were trapped between two rule-governed contingencies:

1. External rule: Obey the scientist. Follow the protocol. Don’t disrupt the experiment.
2. Internal rule (values): Don’t hurt another human being. This feels wrong. Stop.

Here’s the critical point: values are rules too. They’re just self-authored. But under pressure, the rules established by perceived authority often carry more immediate consequences—social disapproval, fear of noncompliance, confusion about what is "right" in the moment.

So how do we justify one rule over another?

Behaviorally speaking, the rule that wins is the one more frequently reinforced or more strongly associated with meaningful consequences. That’s why systematic alignment with values matters. Without reinforcement, clarity, and practice, our values become weak rules—and weak rules rarely hold up under pressure.

Leadership Is a Pressure Test of Values

We often think of leadership as something that comes with position—the CEO, the superintendent, the executive director. But leadership, real leadership, ain't about title or position, and it shows up in the spaces where pressure meets purpose.

It’s the school counselor who refuses to suspend a student without first addressing the trauma they’re carrying. It’s the team lead at a behavioral health agency who stands up to a regional manager pushing unsafe staffing ratios. It’s the RBT who, when told to use outdated practices, quietly responds, "That doesn't align with our learner's needs."

In every one of these situations, someone is faced with the same kind of quiet crossroads Milgram's participants faced. They can follow the rule. Or they can follow their values.

And make no mistake—there’s no glory in these moments. There’s often no applause. Sometimes, there’s even retaliation. But these moments define culture. They shape integrity. And they remind us that leadership isn’t about being in charge. It’s about being in alignment.

Real Pressure. Real Drift. Real Leadership.

Let’s bring this closer to home. Here are a few real-world examples where leaders at all levels get pulled off-course:

• Clinic Director: Told by corporate to push more billable hours, she starts to quietly encourage therapists to log indirect time that didn’t happen. "Just this month," she tells herself.
• Middle School Principal: Pressured by the district to reduce suspensions, he starts sweeping major behavior incidents under the rug. Staff morale tanks, but hey—the numbers look great.
• BCBA: Urged to sign off on a staff member's competency despite observing major skill gaps. The justification? "We need them on the floor Monday."
• HR Manager: Informed by leadership to terminate a whistleblower, even though the complaint was valid. The reason? "We need to protect the company."

None of these people are bad. In fact, most entered their roles to make a difference. But pressure creates behavioral drift. And drift leads to misalignment.

That's why values can't just be declared. They have to be defined, operationalized, and reinforced.

That’s Why You Need a Compass

When pressure hits, you don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to your systems. And if your values system isn’t clear, practiced, and reinforced, it won't hold.

That’s where the Behavioral Alignment Compass comes in. It’s a six-step roadmap for identifying your values, building behaviors that reflect them, and strengthening them into rules that actually compete with external pressures.

Here are the six steps:

✅ 1. Values Identification

Defining what matters most. These are the rules you want to live by—and that you're willing to defend.

✅ 2. Private Event Awareness

Recognizing internal barriers. Fear, doubt, frustration—these internal events can derail behavior unless they’re acknowledged and managed.

✅ 3. Behavioral Awareness

Observing your current behaviors and how they support or undermine your values. You can’t change what you don’t see.

✅ 4. Behavioral-Values Misalignment

Identifying escape-maintained behaviors or socially reinforced actions that run counter to your North Star. This is where drift begins.

✅ 5. Pinpointing Replacement Behaviors

Targeting skill gaps and identifying replacement behaviors that are more adaptive and aligned.

✅ 6. Values-Driven Goals & Accomplishments

Mapping the path forward—using values to shape goals that are observable, measurable, and reinforcing.

Adaptive Intelligence: The Heart of Self-Leadership

Adaptive intelligence is more than flexibility. It’s the ability to adapt behavior to stay aligned with values under changing conditions. It means you can adjust tactics without abandoning principles.

That’s what separates a manager who buckles under pressure from a leader who bends but doesn’t break.

• When a clinician pushes back respectfully against unethical billing practices.
• When a school leader advocates for a teacher being targeted by a toxic district policy.
• When a team member says, "I don’t feel right about this," and the culture encourages that, not punishes it.

That’s adaptive intelligence. That’s leadership.

So, Are You Aligned?

Let’s cut through the noise. When pressure hits—and it always does—ask yourself:

• Do I know what my North Star is?
• Do my daily behaviors reflect those values?
• Am I reinforcing alignment in others—or just compliance?
• What systems do I fall back on when discomfort shows up?

Because leadership isn’t a title you wear. It’s a behavior you choose.

And when it comes time to choose, your rules won’t save you.

Your compass will.

Reference

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525

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Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525

Specializing in human performance, coaching, and organizational leadership, Dr. Paul "Paulie" Gavoni is a behavior scientist and educator who has worked across education and human services for almost three decades. In this capacity, he has served the needs of children and adults through various positions, including COO, Vice President, Director of School Improvement, Leadership Director, Professor, Assistant Principal, School Turnaround Manager, Clinical Coordinator, Therapist, District Behavior Analyst, and Director of Progam Development and Public Relations at PCMA. As founder of Heart & Science International and Co-founder of The Behavioral Toolbox, Dr. Gavoni is passionate about applying Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), or the science of human behavior, to make a positive difference in establishing safe, productive, and engaging environments that bring out the best in faculty and staff so they can bring out the best in the learners they serve. He is an active board member of the Opioid Awareness Foundation and World Behavior Analysis Day Alliance.

Known for his authenticity and practical approaches, Dr. Gavoni is the host of the Top 1.5% globally ranked Crisis in Education Podcast and a sought-out speaker at various Educational and Behavior Analytic Conferences Internationally. He a the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling co-author of The Scientific Laws of Life & Leadership: Behavioral Karma; Quick Wins! Accelerating School Transformation through Science, Engagement, and Leadership; Deliberate Coaching: A Toolbox for Accelerating Teacher Performance; and MMA Science: A Training, Coaching, and Belt Ranking Guide. Dr. Gavoni is proud to introduce OBM and Applied Behavior Analysis to worldwide audiences through his numerous publications and his work with PCMA to create productive, safe, and positive cultures.

Beyond his work in education and human services, Dr. Gavoni is also a former Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion and a highly respected striking coach in combat sports. Coach “Paulie Gloves,” as he is known in the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community, has trained world champions and UFC vets using technologies rooted in the behavioral sciences. Coach Paulie has been featured in the books Beast: Blood, Struggle, and Dreams a the Heart of Mixed Martial Arts, A Fighter’s Way, and the featured article Ring to Cage: How four former boxers help mold MMA’s finest. He is also an author who has written extensively for various online magazines such as Scifighting, Last Word on Sports, and Bloody Elbow, where his Fight Science series continues to bring behavioral science to MMA. Finally, Paulie was also a featured fighter in FX’s highest-rated show at the time, The Toughman, and as an MMA coach in the Lifetime reality series Leave it to Geege.

Disclaimer: All ideas presented are original to the author. ChatGPT has been used solely to enhance the reading experience.