In the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel led a series of studies at Stanford that have become known as the Stanford marshmallow experiment. Children between the ages of three and six were presented with a marshmallow on a plate in a room without distractions. The experimenter told the children that he would leave the room momentarily, and if they managed not to eat the marshmallow by the time he returned, they would be given a second one.
Anyone who has children is aware that this test is a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT). Consequently, only around a third of the children managed to endure the full 15 minutes of the test, with the ability to delay gratification increasing with age.
Less well-known is a variation of this experiment from 2012, in which a group of researchers at the University of Rochester preceded the actual test with a short art project. During this project, the children experienced the experimenter promising to leave the room briefly to bring them better crayons or a nicer sticker. For one group of children, the experimenter actually returned with the promised supplies. So, it was worth the wait, and the experimenter was reliable. For the second group, the experimenter returned empty-handed and apologized for being unable to find better materials. These children had, therefore, not experienced the environment as particularly reliable.
The result of the subsequent marshmallow test is unsurprising but astonishing in its clarity. The children who had previously experienced a reliable environment managed to wait, on average, four times as long (12 minutes) as the children who had previously experienced an unreliable environment (3 minutes) (Kidd, Palmeri, and Aslin 2013).
Even if delayed gratification hopefully works better for adults than kindergarten children, the influence of the environment’s reliability should give us food for thought when designing organizations and their cultures. Organizations are always dependent on the cooperation of individuals and departments. The higher the level of trust and reliability, the more successful this cooperation will be. If people perceive the organization as less reliable, they prioritize short-term personal gain instead of focusing on the big picture and long-term success. Leadership means promoting trust and reliability, especially by setting an example.
Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.
Steven R. Covey
References
Kidd, Celeste, Holly Palmeri, and Richard N. Aslin. 2013. “Rational Snacking: Young Children’s Decision-Making on the Marshmallow Task Is Moderated by Beliefs about Environmental Reliability.” Cognition 126 (1): 109 – 14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.08.004. (PDF)
Über Führung zu lesen ist das Eine, etwas vollkommen anderes und deutlich schwieriger ist es jedoch, deinen individuellen Führungsstil zu finden und diesen im hektischen Führungsalltag konsequent umzusetzen.
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