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Did Trying on
Super Bowl Rings Make the Green Bay Packers Win?
The night before the championship game, Coach Mike
McCarthy had each player and coach fitted for a Super Bowl
championship ring. The next day the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl
XLV.
Did Coach McCarthy predict it? Or did the fitting
somehow make them win the game?
The Coach's Moxie
While other coaches are busy navigating football
superstitions and encouraging "one day at a time" mindsets,
McCarthy's moxie is a breath of fresh air.
By putting those Super Bowl rings on their fingers,
Coach McCarthy was leveraging some cognitive biases that influence
every human being. In doing so, he evolved from a manager of a
football team to a leader of people. Let's explore these so you too
can leverage them and influence champion behavior.
(1) Diagnosis Bias
We listen to what other people say about us,
especially people we admire, respect, and value. They are diagnosing
us. We then tend to mold our behaviors to match their diagnosis,
which then confirms that diagnosis and makes it our own.
By fitting the players with Super Bowl rings, the
Coach was diagnosing them winners before they even walked out onto
the field. The players then molded their behavior to be that of Super
Bowl champions.
Green Bay Packers guard Daryn Colledge said of the
ring fitting, "It just set that mental mindset that you've got
to go out there and you've got something to accomplish."
(2) Framing Effect
We approach the same situation differently depending
on how that situation is presented. In effect, we'll make
inconsistent decisions when presented with the same situation just
framed differently.
Coach McCarthy could have said, "The game is
going to be tough. I'm proud of you. Just go out there and do your
best." But more likely he said, "You guys are champions! In
fact, let's go try on your rings so when you win tomorrow, you are
ready to wear them."
Linebacker, A.J. Hawk said of Coach McCarthy's brazen
move, "It made things real for us." Of course it did.
Coach McCarthy was framing the situation for the players.
(3) Spotlight Effect
We all think that people are closely watching us to
see what we do. And when we think people are fixated on us, we
conform to what we think those people expect of us.
By putting those Super Bowl rings on their fingers,
Coach McCarthy was ingeniously reinforcing for the players that
millions of people would be paying close attention to them at the
game the next day and that those people expected the players to win.
Coach McCarthy was also communicating his
expectations. "We respect the Pittsburgh Steelers and the way
they play. But we fully expected to win this game. This is our
time."
Your Turn to Influence Champion
Behavior
Are you ready to apply these cognitive biases to
influence champion behavior in others? Some ideas to experiment with:
- Hand
out great big titles, better yet, ask them to write their own
- Dish
out juicy, audacious challenges and opportunities to contribute
in big ways
- Discover
what people are passionate about, then let them work on a
Passion Project
- Ask
everyone's opinion in meetings
- Invite
people to participate in a task force to help you solve a
problem, even when you know the answer (they may think of
something you haven't)
- Put
people in front of your best customers and leaders - let them
know they're ready for the championship game
- Make
people try on success - tape their name on a plaque or on a top
producers list, have them research the vacation they'll pay for
with their commissions, employ vision boards
- Introduce
them with a flattering comment
- Gush
about them as if they're not there
- Call
them winners
You may be concerned that these ideas will fuel
people's overconfidence, pride, and superiority. But rest assured, it
is much better to peel people off the ceiling than to pick them up
off the floor.
What ideas do you have for tasting
success?
What ideas have you implemented for having people
taste success as they head out to achieve it? Share them with us on
our facebook page or on our blog:
http://lifemoxie.wordpress.com/
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