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Something that surprised me
Nov. 1st, 2006 11:55 pmNote: This is full of rambling, and I'm too busy to edit it to be shorter. Sorry! (And by too busy I mean I need to stop procrastinating.)
For me, the hardest part of doing something new is getting over the information hurdle. Not knowing how something works already will stop me in my tracks. Even 5 minutes of research can stall me for a long time.
Example: I was delegated to get tickets for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ywalme's concert recently. I agreed this was reasonable (since I was a student) but didn't actually make plans then. It wasn't until I was reminded to do this that I actually looked up the box office location. As soon as I did that, though, it was easy, and I went out the next day and got tickets. It seems weird, though, that all I needed to do was get the address and hours of operation to change how "difficult" it seemed. (Not that getting tickets was really that hard or anything, but it illustrates the point...sortof)
A comment in "The Tipping Point" about tetanus shots brought this into focus for me. Some psychologists were doing a study comparing normal and "scary" literature (pictures, lurid descriptions, etc) about the effect of tetanus, thinking "scared" students would be more likely to to get shots. As it turns out, students did feel more scared and *said* they were going to get shots, but didn't actually do anything different. A different brochure (they tried a lot of things) added a map and the times shots were offered. The students probably already knew where to go, but those pieces of information made the difference. Malcom Gladwell (the author of The Tipping Point) claims this was an issue of "context", that students needed to see how the shots fit into their lives. I think he was only sort-of right. The students knew tetanus was bad, but didn't care enough to hunt down a solution. If one was handed to them (go here, at this time, no need to plan ahead, make calls, etc) they were happy to oblige, but the second tier of effort was too much.
I'm bothering to write about this, since it seems like something I should pay attention to. I know, intellectually, that it is worth it to track down a phone number or address, and even that it is easy, so hopefully with a reminder I'll actually do so quickly, rather than putting it off. I should also remember this when I want people to go out and do something. The easier I can make it - so they don't have to replicate my research, or go out and hunt down how, the easier it is for them to do so. (Eg: rather than just telling people "yay - renter's insurance", I could hand them the links I've found and tell them how the process works.)
(There's more, of course, about committing yourself to a course of action, about the effort in keeping track of things, about the "worth" of doing things if you have to research them first - feel free to point out things like this I've missed, or tell me if you think I'm way off base on all of this.)
For me, the hardest part of doing something new is getting over the information hurdle. Not knowing how something works already will stop me in my tracks. Even 5 minutes of research can stall me for a long time.
Example: I was delegated to get tickets for
ywalme's concert recently. I agreed this was reasonable (since I was a student) but didn't actually make plans then. It wasn't until I was reminded to do this that I actually looked up the box office location. As soon as I did that, though, it was easy, and I went out the next day and got tickets. It seems weird, though, that all I needed to do was get the address and hours of operation to change how "difficult" it seemed. (Not that getting tickets was really that hard or anything, but it illustrates the point...sortof)A comment in "The Tipping Point" about tetanus shots brought this into focus for me. Some psychologists were doing a study comparing normal and "scary" literature (pictures, lurid descriptions, etc) about the effect of tetanus, thinking "scared" students would be more likely to to get shots. As it turns out, students did feel more scared and *said* they were going to get shots, but didn't actually do anything different. A different brochure (they tried a lot of things) added a map and the times shots were offered. The students probably already knew where to go, but those pieces of information made the difference. Malcom Gladwell (the author of The Tipping Point) claims this was an issue of "context", that students needed to see how the shots fit into their lives. I think he was only sort-of right. The students knew tetanus was bad, but didn't care enough to hunt down a solution. If one was handed to them (go here, at this time, no need to plan ahead, make calls, etc) they were happy to oblige, but the second tier of effort was too much.
I'm bothering to write about this, since it seems like something I should pay attention to. I know, intellectually, that it is worth it to track down a phone number or address, and even that it is easy, so hopefully with a reminder I'll actually do so quickly, rather than putting it off. I should also remember this when I want people to go out and do something. The easier I can make it - so they don't have to replicate my research, or go out and hunt down how, the easier it is for them to do so. (Eg: rather than just telling people "yay - renter's insurance", I could hand them the links I've found and tell them how the process works.)
(There's more, of course, about committing yourself to a course of action, about the effort in keeping track of things, about the "worth" of doing things if you have to research them first - feel free to point out things like this I've missed, or tell me if you think I'm way off base on all of this.)
