backbreaker said:
until he got pissed becuase now someone has convinced him it's my fault his work ****ing sucks, so he takes the work from our client server and quits.
i should have fired his ass 3 months ago. lesson learned. you can only be so grateful.
Yes, your early gratitude and praise "trained" him to believe that his work was above fault. Then, when his work deteriorated , you showed a willingness to "let it slide" - that further confirmed to him that HE was not at fault. He saw no need to improve or change his ways because you were in essence, approving of his poor work.
However, problems in the workplace do not emerge from thin air - someone is always screwing up, and so when someone suggested that it might be BB who is the villian , the 'fault' was transferred to you and then he decided to take the work from the server ... well , you know the rest.
The lesson here is to ONLY praise work that is actually performed.
Using undeserved or unearned 'praise' as a motivator is always counter productive,. You are in fact trying to entice better performance from someone who has not yet earned your approval or approbation.
We often do this with women too - giving compliments as an enticement or a 'sweetener '. AFC's do this habitually hoping that the woman will date him to receive more and more compliments.
However, in effect all he achieves is a kind of emotional slavery to her ego needs. He has placed her on a pedestal of undeserved worship and wonders why she exploits him and eventually LJBF's him.