segunda-feira, maio 23, 2022

"missed out on the opportunity"

"Lucky people tend to be more relaxed, and anxiety can keep us from grasping opportunities. In an experiment, psychologist Richard Wiseman gave people a newspaper to read, and asked how many photographs were in it. Most participants took around two minutes and counted through quickly. Some double checked. None of them noticed the headline on the second page: ‘There are forty-two pictures in this newspaper’ in large bold letters. Nobody saw it because they were so focused on the photographs. They also missed out on the opportunity to win a hundred pounds – another large advert in the newspaper read ‘Stop counting and tell the experimenter you see this and win £100’. But again, the participants were too busy looking for photographs. When Wiseman asked instead if they saw anything unusual in the paper, they looked at it differently and saw the messages immediately. By busily (over-)focusing on a particular task they missed out on the real value.

As long as we have a culture of hyper-stress in organizations, with people focusing on not losing their job or trying to get to their meetings on time, it is more likely that we will miss serendipity. (In settings of poverty, the feeling of stress and anxiety is arguably even greater, which can have a negative impact on decision-making.)

But while a healthy state of mind can be important, often discomfort and pressure can be sources of achievement – as usual, it’s the balance that counts."

Trecho retirado de "The Serendipity Mindset" de Christian Busch.

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