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Ok, this is the holiday season. You might have noticed.
I was standing in a line at a store last week and had a thought; a question to pose really.
And here it be:
Would you rather stand in a line that is thirty feet long that takes fifteen minutes to get through or would you rather stand in a line that is five feet long that takes that same fifteen minutes?
Same amount of time, different experience.
To spend fifteen minutes in a five foot line there would be a lot of standing, stopping and very little moving forward.
To spend fifteen minutes in a thirty foot line there would be rather steady advancement toward the checkout counter.
Most of us would rather be in the constantly moving line. Even though in reality it's the same amount of time, it wouldn't feel like it.
Same fifteen minutes, different perception, different psychology, different experience.
Visible progress, progress that can be seen, is an essential motivator and morale lifter.
I've seen this same dynamic in airport security lines. Stifled in a short line people get bored, frustrated, stressed, agitated, fidgety. They sway back and forth from foot to foot. They roll their eyes. They sigh heavily, insides screaming.
Put them for the same length of time in a much longer line that is consistently moving, their disposition changes to one that is more at ease, comfortable, confident, almost breezy. The only difference is that progress is being made in one and not the other.
Same amount of time, different perception, different psychology, different disposition, different experience.
Same question only different:
Would you rather read a book with small type and less pages or a book with larger type and more pages?
Same amount of words, different experience.
With larger type you would be turning pages more frequently and having the feeling of quicker progress toward the book's end. The book would feel more like it's moving right along; not bogged down.
With small type you'd be turning pages less frequently, feeling almost stagnant, getting wearier. People tend to feel the need to take breaks more often with less page turning. Looking at a book with small type makes the prospect of reading it daunting and intimidating to most. Personally, small type makes my brain groan.
Same amount of words, different psychology, different disposition, different experience.
When people lose weight (keep this in mind come January!), they go through ebbs and flows.
They'll have stretches when it seems like the weight is falling off in chunks. At those times they feel energized, confident and are extremely motivated.
Other times the weight loss plateaus, it doesn't come off as fast, and even though they are still doing all the right things and their body is still getting healthier, it seems all progress has stopped even though in reality it has not.
It's at that moment that many people quit.
Same exercises. Same diet. Same benefit to the body. But when that benefit isn't obvious it becomes a different experience, a different psychology and leads to a very different disposition...and different actions.
So what does this tell you, dear leader, about your people and a need to make their progress obvious to them? What does that say about how to motivate them? What does that say about how to lift their morale?
Yep, you got it.
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