Over the years I have heard that it is best to present first in a competitive business process. I have heard that going last is best. I've heard that all presentations must have specific words in them to be successful. I've also had sales people tell me to make sure the decision maker's name is on a slide. Over the years I've heard a lot of things that people believe make a difference in whether you win or loose a sale. I'm wondering now if any of that matters or were the people just thinking magically.
This article in today's NY Times Online is about "magical thinking." The line that hit me was this...
For people who are generally uncertain of their own abilities, or slow to act because of feelings of inadequacy, this kind of thinking can be an antidote, a needed activator, said Daniel M. Wegner, a professor of psychology at Harvard. (Dr. Wegner was a co-author of the voodoo study, with Kimberly McCarthy of Harvard and Sylvia Rodriguez of Princeton.)
I read that to say... "If I don't really know what causes success I'll make up something and stick with it."
In situations where we don't have real evidence do we create magical evidence? I think we need to spend more time analyzing failures and successes and understand the real impact actions have - and not rely on superstitions, hearsay and opinion. Once we really understand the facts and motivate people to follow the facts -not their "feelings" maybe something really magical will happen ... we'll get better.
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