Presentation by Prof. Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School at Planning-ness 2013

1. Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College
Sidetracked:
Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How
We Can Stick to the Plan
Francesca Gino
Harvard Business School
Email: fgino@hbs.edu
Twitter: @francescagino

2. Not According to Plan
Forces we do
not perceive
are going to
matter

3. In 2004: case study on Ducati Motorcycle
racing team (Ducati Corse)
• Long (and successful) history of racing
• Until 2003: never raced in the Grand Prix circuit (“MotoGP”)
• Being a newcomer: set low expectations
• Team director: 2003 would be a learning season for the team
• Very specific measures designed to facilitate learning (e.g., detailed
tracking of bike performance, creating a group focused specifically on
analyzing race data, post-race debriefs, etc.)
Surprisingly, Ducati Corse performed much better than
they (or anyone else) expected during the 2003 season
• Finished season 2nd overall in the team standings
An Example

4. Learning took a distinct back seat to winning
• Copious amount of data collected, little of it analyzed
• One team member noted, “(…) Our 2003 season was, in some way,
too successful. So, our strategy was we ride, we go home, and we do
not need to analyze the data. It was not important to have information
at that point.”
• 2004 bike completely redesigned
• More than 60% of the 915 individual components of the new bike were
totally different and could not be interchanged with the previous
version
Result? Worse performance in the 2004 season and many
struggles in the races, especially at first
An Example (cont’ed)

5. FORCES FROM WITHIN
• Factors that reside in both our minds
and our hearts, and exist because of
our very nature of being human
FORCES FROM OUR
RELATIONSHIPS
• Factors that characterize our
relationships and interactions with
others
FORCES FROM THE OUTSIDE
• Factors that characterize the context
in which we operate
Factors
Derailing Our
Decisions

6. Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College
Forces From Within

7. Rate Yourself
Using PERCENTILES, compare yourself relative to
other people in this room on the following
dimensions:
1. My ability to make good decisions
2. My ability to get along well with other people
3. My ability to listen to the perspective of other people
4. My intelligence
5. My ability to negotiate effectively
6. My ethicality

8. Respondents asked who’s likely to get to heaven?
• Bill Clinton 52%
• Michael Jordan 62%
• Mother Teresa 79%
• Themselves 87%
US News Survey

10. There are certainly benefits to having a positive view of who we
are and what we can accomplish thanks to our knowledge and IQ
But having inflated beliefs can also lead to problems
• E.g., in many types of competitive decision-making contexts:
• If entrepreneurs believe they are savvier than the competition,
they are likely to make overly risky business decisions.
• If CEOs believe they’re smarter than other executives at their
level, they will plunge ahead with ill-advised mergers and
acquisitions.
• Implications for advice taking.
Force #1: Inflated Self-Views

11. Raise your awareness
Because our views of how capable and competent we are
as individuals are often overly positive, we rely too much
on our own information. By raising your awareness, you
can keep your self-views in check and recognize when
they may be taking you off track.
Principle to Counteract Inflated Self-views

12. FORCES FROM WITHIN
• Inaccurate Self-Views
• Infectious Emotions
• An Overly Narrow Focus
FORCES FROM OUR
RELATIONSHIPS
• Lack of Perspective Taking
• Insidious Social Bonds
• Salient Social Comparisons
FORCES FROM THE OUTSIDE
• Irrelevant Information
• Subtle Changes in Framing
• Ambiance and Opportunity
Factors
Derailing Our
Decisions

13. FORCES FROM WITHIN
• Inaccurate Self-Views
• Infectious Emotions
• An Overly Narrow Focus
FORCES FROM OUR
RELATIONSHIPS
• Lack of Perspective Taking
• Insidious Social Bonds
• Salient Social Comparisons
FORCES FROM THE OUTSIDE
• Irrelevant Information
• Subtle Changes in Framing
• Ambience and Opportunity
Factors
Derailing Our
Decisions

14. Example #1

15. A Field Study

16. Signature at the
bottom:
Signature at the top:
~23,671 miles
~26,098 miles
A Field Study
Difference:
~2,500 miles per car

17. Example #2

18. Working At Disney

19. Process by which an individual acquires the values, expected
behaviors, and social knowledge essential for assuming an
organizational role and for participating as a member (Louis,
1980; Van Maanen and Schein, 1979)
When joining an organization:
• Anxiety about the job and the need to fit in
• Negotiation of personal identity
Research to date:
• Ways in which organizations can enculturate employees
(understanding of norms and culture)
Socialization Process

20. Relative absence of structure
that creates ambiguity and
encourages newcomers to
question the status quo
Highlight and leverage
newcomers’ new perspective
and skills
2
Socialization Practices
Strategic, structured program
of socialization designed to
reduce ambiguity and
encourage newcomers to
accept preset organizational
norms and values
Institutionalized
tactics
Individualized
tactics

21. Individual identity is made
salient
Socialization Practices
Organizational identity is made
salient
Institutionalized
tactics
Individualized
tactics
Reduces possibility of self-
expression and authenticity
Increases possibility of self-
expression and authenticity

22. Individual identity is made
salient
Socialization Practices
Organizational identity is made
salient
Institutionalized
tactics
Individualized
tactics
Reduces possibility of self-
expression and authenticity
Increases possibility of self-
expression and authenticity
To be authentic one must align his/her internal experiences (e.g.,
values, feelings, perspectives) with external expressions
• Key component of self-esteem

23. Field Experiment
November 2010 – July 2011
Wipro BPO
• Provides phone and chat support
for its global customers
• Like other call centers, high
turnover rates
• Job is stressful

24. We randomly assigned incoming batches of agents
into three groups:
1. Individual identity
2. Organizational identity
3. Control group (Wipro’s traditional onboarding process)
Individual
identity
Organizational
identity
Control
96 101 408
Participants and Conditions

25. Agents in the identity treatments received same training
and material as control group with three more parts:
1. One hour presentation during the first day’s
orientation session
2. Two fleece sweatshirts, customized by condition
3. One badge, customized by condition
Experimental Conditions

26. One hour session:
1. Senior leader spends 15 min discussing how working at
Wipro would give agents the opportunity to express
themselves and create individual opportunities
2. 15 min lost at sea exercise (individually)
3. 15 min reflection on decision made in the exercise
• Your personal highlights reel applied to job, etc.
4. 15 min introducing themselves and their decisions to the
group
Fleece sweatshirts with individual names, and badge
Individual Identity Condition

27. One hour session:
1. Senior leader spends 15 min discussing Wipro’s values
and why Wipro is an outstanding organization
2. Same from star performer (15 min)
3. 15 min reflection on what they heard about Wipro
• What did you hear about Wipro that makes you proud
to be part of the organization?
4. 15 min discussing answers within their group
Fleece sweatshirts with company name, and badge
Organizational Identity Condition

28. Summary of Findings
When the organization focused its initial socialization processes
on newcomers’ personal identities rather than on the
organizational identity, it fostered stronger employment
relationships
• lower employee turnover
• greater customer satisfaction
• greater job satisfaction
• greater work engagement
• greater feelings of authentic self-expression

29. YOUR TASK…

30. In Groups of 4-5 members
Identify one or two problems your organizations is experiencing or
experienced in the past (“Not According to Plan”)
If you were to design an experiment to tackle this problem…
• What would you manipulate
• What would you measure
• Why you think it would work

31. Discussion
Problem area
Design principles…

32. Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College
Sticking to the Plan…

33. Recognize we are human
• Subtle forces influence our
decisions and behavior
Apply principles systematically
Develop plans of actions that
consider and counteract the
forces that sidetrack us
Check on progress
Sticking to the Plan

34. Thank You!
Email: fgino@hbs.edu
Twitter: @francescagino