Always offer people an escape button.April 15 2007
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There's a neat story that's told about a psychology experiment that was done on two sets of people.
One group was asked to perform a complex task while sitting in a very noisy environment. The other group was asked to do the same thing, but they were given access to a button that they could use to turn the noise off, but only if it got so bad that they couldn't stand it.
Which group performed better on the test? ... The one with the button of course. ... But the really interesting thing is that they performed better without actually using the button.
The moral to the story is that just knowing that we could have a way out is enough to allow to calm our nerves and allow us to deal more effectively with a stress, whatever happens to be.
Whether this is a true story or just an urban legend I can't say. But do know that you can apply this lesson in your daily life.
Whenever we ask someone to perform a job under stress or when we need to create stress for a person, be it a a boss, an employee or a friend .... always give that person a way out, or what I call, "an escape button".
Chances are they will never use it, but just having it will allow them cope better, feel better, and perform better for you.
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