Choices that Cause Inaction

In their book Switch, authors Chip and Dan Heath present an interesting study about how we handle choice as human beings. In our world, it profoundly effects how Franchise Candidates are managed and guided.

In the study, two groups of college students were told that they were going to participate in a food perception study, which was not the purpose of the study at all. The researchers asked the students not to eat for at least three hours and then report to the lab.

They were led to a room one at a time and the room had the wafting and luxurious smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. In the room were two bowls, one filled with chocolates and the freshly baked cookies, and the other filled with radishes.

One group was asked to eat two or three cookies and some chocolates but no radishes. The other group was told they could eat as many radishes as they wanted but no treats.

It goes without saying that the cookie eaters felt no struggle in staying away from the radishes. However, the radish eaters had a whole different issue and significant willpower had to be summoned to avoid the cookies. Despite the temptation, all group two participants did as they were told, and did not eat any cookies or chocolates.

At this point the "taste study" was over and a second, supposedly unrelated, group or researchers entered with a second study. They challenged the college students by saying that they were trying to determine who was better at solving problems, high school students or college students. That ensured that the college students put in their best effort so as to not be shown up by "inferiors".

Unknown to them, they were presented with an unsolvable problem that could be tried and retried.

Now here's the stunner; the "untempted" students who did not have to resist the cookies spent an average of nineteen minutes and thirty-four attempts at the puzzle. The radish eaters spent only eight minutes and nineteen attempts before giving up.

The reason they gave up, which has been proven in many other similar studies, is that they ran out of self-control. As it turns out, self-control or self-supervision is an exhaustible resource. The radish eaters had used up their self-control and could not continue to make decisions, thereby giving up much easier than the group that did not have to resist choices. This phenomenon has a significant effect on Franchise Candidates.

How so? Much of what we do every day is of an automatic nature - taking a shower, driving the car, going to work at our job, - the unthinking things we do. These things do not use up our self-supervision tank.

However, when a change is required, like investing in a Franchise and changing a way of life, the supply of self-control, or decision-making capability, becomes very important. Getting stuck in analysis-paralysis is a common cause for inaction. Maybe sometimes it is just a matter of too many choices and the Candidate simply runs out of gas (self-supervision ability).

When people try to change things, especially big things, they are usually tinkering with behaviours that are automatic and in their comfort zone. The more considerations, the more it saps the self-control tank.

They are really exhausting their mental muscles needed to think creatively - precisely the muscles needed to make a change to become a Franchisee. So what looks like resistance, or laziness, is often just exhaustion from dealing with too many choices.

This certainly emphasizes the value of narrowing choices, helping pinpoint matches, and guiding the Candidate as much as possible to the best fit, without exposing them to too many choices (or any?) so they become exhausted and frozen in the no-decision never-land.

Schooley Mitchell News and Press Releases

This article has been read 712 times.

Would you like to own a Schooley Mitchell Franchise?

For more information about becoming a Schooley Mitchell Franchise owner, including a franchise overview, start-up costs, fees, training and more, please visit our Schooley Mitchell Franchise Information page.