By Jeff Haden
In 1977, Harvard researchers asked people to use one of three phrases when they intentionally cut in front of innocent people waiting in line to use library photocopiers:
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”
“I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I am in a rush?”
“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?”
Sixty percent of the people waiting in line let the person go ahead of them. Surprising? Not really: When asked for a favor, most people tend to say yes, if only to avoid confrontation.
More surprising is that the second statement resulted in 94 percent of people waiting in line let the person go ahead of them. While urgency (“because I am in a rush”) certainly contributed, still: No matter what the line, everyone waiting in a line is eager to stop waiting in that line. Maybe compliance increased simply due to a reasonable justification?
In fact, no: statement three resulted in 93 percent of people waiting in line letting the person go ahead of them. “Because I have to make copies” isn’t a reasonable justification. Everyone in line needs to make copies; if not, they wouldn’t be waiting in line in the first place. Yet almost every person let the individual cut in line.
Why? As Robert Cialdini, the author of the seminal book Influence, writes, “A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor, we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”
Want your employees to embrace a new process? Want to convince other people an idea makes sense? Want to show investors or stakeholders how business or project will generate a return? Harness the leadership power of “because.”
Because if you can’t share a meaningful “because,” you’re just giving orders – not leading change.
But don’t stop there. “Because” can be just as powerful after the fact. Take employee recognition; everyone knows appreciation and praise significantly improve employee performance, motivation, and retention rates. What you might not know is that adding a specific cause (rather than a generic “well done”) significantly increases the effect of that praise on job satisfaction, engagement, and feelings of overall well-being.
A 2005 study published in American Psychology found the key is to make your praise causal, not just passive. Partly that’s because specific praise always trumps generic praise:
“Thanks for everything you did” is much less impactful than “We landed that customer because you put so much time and effort into crafting the product demo.”
“Thanks for all your hard work” is much less impactful than “We didn’t lose that customer because you were so empathetic, patient, and understanding.”
But that’s also because specific praise – praise that includes a “because” – helps lead to a growth mindset. If you aren’t familiar, according to research on achievement and success by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, most people tend to have one of two mental perspectives where talent is concerned:
Fixed mindset: the belief that intelligence, ability, and skill are inborn and relatively fixed – that we “have” what we were born with. People with a fixed mindset typically say things like, “I’m just not cut out to be a leader.”
Growth mindset: the belief that intelligence, ability, and skill can be developed through effort – that we are we work to become. People with a growth mindset typically say things like, “With a little more time and effort, I’ll be able to pull this team together.”
Adopting a fixed mindset causes people to think they can’t change who they are. They’re smart, or not. They’re skilled, or not. They’re attentive to detail, or not. Think that way, and it’s easy to feel helpless when faced with a challenge; if who you are just isn’t good enough, why try?
Praise that includes “because” creates a causal relationship and fosters a growth mindset. They landed that customer because they worked hard. They rescued that customer relationship because they listened and empathized and problem-solved. Good things didn’t just happen – through focus, effort, and application, they made good things happen.
Which means, with time and effort, they’re capable of learning and developing and growing… and making even greater things happen.
Oddly enough, that’s true if praise is somewhat random. A series of studies published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that random praise, even random praise that wasn’t particularly deserved, “produced significant improvements in subsequent rates of success as compared with the control group of non-recipients.” Early success — whether actual or not — leads to future success. Your employees don’t necessarily need to have been successful; they just need to think they were.
Especially if you praise effort and include a causal “because.”
Because your employees always want to know why they should do something, and why what they do matters so much.
Especially to you. Credit: Arabian Business.