INSIGHTS (on leadership/self-leadership)
Want to keep people focused on the goal, their eyes on the prize? Use a technique called mileage messaging. It’s based on a 2008 University of Chicago study that showed to maintain an organization’s goal-focus, it’s vital to communicate two types of messages regarding progress, to two different groups. Convey how far you’ve come to those less committed to the goal, and convey how far there still is to go, the tasks still to do, to the more committed.(Both communications reference the distance to a goal, thus the term “mileage messaging”).
In other words, the intensity of goal commitment the audience has (or lack thereof) directly influences the message the audience needs to hear. That doesn’t mean you have to discern who exactly is goal committed to what degree (or not), and parse your message accordingly. It just means be certain to communicate both forms of mileage messaging. And in case you’re wondering, “But wouldn’t communicating to less goal-committed people how far there still is to go (in addition to how far they’ve come), demotivate them?” The answer is no, as long as you frame how far there is to go within a strong belief that they’ll get there, along with a reminder of how important it is to do so.
IMPERFECTIONS (a mistake many make)
What keeps you from making the best decisions possible?
You.
Or more precisely, decision-making biases that can creep in, unknowingly throwing you off course from a decision well-made. Here are four of the most common biases, and how to avoid them:
Confirmation bias – the tendency to search for, interpret, and favor information that confirms your beliefs, or a decision you want to make.
Solution – Invite people in to challenge your point of view, to try to disprove what you’re inclined to decide. Accept inevitabilities sooner(stop looking for data to support what you want, and accept facts and data that may be pointing you towards an obvious decision).
Sunk cost bias (the IKEA effect) – when you overvalue something as a result of having put effort into it.
Solution – Look at resources you’ve put into something – time, money, effort, people-hours, as a non-recoverable cost. Your job isn’t to recover your investment, just to make the best decision possible with the data you have.
Availability bias – when you make a decision based on the most immediate information available to you (including recent, dramatic examples), as opposed to gathering further information that could bring greater clarity to a situation.
Solution – Pay attention when you’re drawing on a recent piece of information. A little flag should go up in your mind saying, “Do I have other information I can draw from to create a well-rounded perspective here?”
Loss aversion – the tendency to protect against loss, more than seeking to gain.
Solution – Ask, “What might we gain?” vs. just focusing on “What could we lose?” Put things in perspective by asking, “How painful is the downside here, really?”
IMPLEMENTATION (one research-backed strategy, tip, or tool)
Want to get past your fear of failure for that thing you’re wanting to do?
Burn the boats.
I’ll explain. When sea-bound Greek armies landed on the shores of their enemies, the first thing they did before entering battle was to burn their boats. Suddenly, there was no turning back. You could either press forward to victory or retreat back and drown in the seas of your fear. If you want to get past a fear of failure, you have to just commit to the thing you’re afraid of failing at. It’s all about taking that first step without overthinking it (burn the boats). We’re often more afraid of the anticipation that leads up to that first step than the first step itself. It quickly leads to more steps and your fear of failure begins to dissipate as you’re focused on what you now need to do to succeed.
Bottom line: making a commitment puts your fear to work for you. How? Because fear of failure disappears when you realize you can’t hide behind it anymore.
Leave a Reply