Ever had an experience where you 'knew' someone was going to perform well in a test, a class task, a job interview or a group activity and you turned out right?
Ever guessed someone was not up to the mark and they proved you right?
Well, congratulations!
Or not.
As it turns out - you're not that great at guessing after all, and it was actually your preconceived notions and your expectation of your colleagues, subordinates, supervisors or peers that resulted in them performing well or poor.
The usual suspects come to be because of you and your perceptions!
Management Lesson #2: The Pygmalion & Golem Effects
The Pygmalion Effect is a psychological phenomenon that encompasses the idea that what one expects of an individual becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The definition above and the explanations given below heavily borrow from the research paper titled "The Pygmalion Effect: A Self-fulfilling Prophecy" written by a Amy Beth Kramer in 2002. Hope she doesn't mind. Google for the complete work.
Her introduction as to the roots of the term are especially good - Reading literature on the psychological phenomenon known as the Pygmalion effect leads one to the Greek myth Pylfmalia, Pygmalion (a play by George Bernard Shaw), and the musical My Fair Lady. In the Greek myth, Pygmalion, a prince of Cyprus,
carved an ivory statue of his ideal woman. He fell in love with the statue and named his love Galatea. The prince's expectations were realized when Galatea was given life by Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion, which was the foundation for the musical My Fair Lady. In My Fair Lady a character by the name of Eliza Doolittle is transformed from a flower girl into a sophisticated lady by
professor Higgins who believed in her. The common theme in all three of these stories is that the expectations of one person can impact the actions of another.
Imagine you join as a manager of a team in a new organization. First day at work you look at trivial things about your team mates/ subordinates and form your own judgments, and hence expectations about them. You expect the smart looking, punctual one that asks a lot of questions to be your most valuable resource, the best performer in your team. The Pygmalion effect says that the odds are that that person really goes on to shine in the company, thanks to you.
The lesser known corollary is the Golem effect, which states that lower expectations tend to bring about lower performances in people. So the next time you predict that silent guy at the back to fail to meet the quarterly targets and he does, you've again only yourself to blame.
I know, this basically turns inside out, that oft repeated saying - the more you expect, the more you lose. But a lot of research and experimenting has gone into these phenomenons, and all of them have confirmed the hypotheses. In fact, a study on the effect of higher or lower expectations of your boss/ supervisors/ professors bringing about higher or lower performances by them have also been proved to be right. This converse was studied by Feldman and Prohaska in 1979, and reaffirmed the concept of expectations turning into self-fulfilling prophecies, working in all directions.
So imagine the power of positive vibes and higher expectations in an organization. How it could lead to a significant increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of a team. Similarly consider for a moment how a pessimistic or biased teacher could easily pull down the grades of his/her students. Think about it, and its implications in an organization, or an educational institute, or even the society at large. Negativity would achieve nothing but failure, while a genuinely positive view of the people around you, and kind, encouraging and appreciating words or thoughts communicated to them could work wonders for you.
So next time you're gonna form a premature negative perception about that silent, eccentric guy at the back of the room, think again about your quarterly targets. And bring him to the front.
For his sake, and yours!
Cheers!
Ever guessed someone was not up to the mark and they proved you right?
Well, congratulations!
Or not.
As it turns out - you're not that great at guessing after all, and it was actually your preconceived notions and your expectation of your colleagues, subordinates, supervisors or peers that resulted in them performing well or poor.
The usual suspects come to be because of you and your perceptions!
| Epicness! |
Management Lesson #2: The Pygmalion & Golem Effects
The Pygmalion Effect is a psychological phenomenon that encompasses the idea that what one expects of an individual becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The definition above and the explanations given below heavily borrow from the research paper titled "The Pygmalion Effect: A Self-fulfilling Prophecy" written by a Amy Beth Kramer in 2002. Hope she doesn't mind. Google for the complete work.
Her introduction as to the roots of the term are especially good - Reading literature on the psychological phenomenon known as the Pygmalion effect leads one to the Greek myth Pylfmalia, Pygmalion (a play by George Bernard Shaw), and the musical My Fair Lady. In the Greek myth, Pygmalion, a prince of Cyprus,
carved an ivory statue of his ideal woman. He fell in love with the statue and named his love Galatea. The prince's expectations were realized when Galatea was given life by Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion, which was the foundation for the musical My Fair Lady. In My Fair Lady a character by the name of Eliza Doolittle is transformed from a flower girl into a sophisticated lady by
professor Higgins who believed in her. The common theme in all three of these stories is that the expectations of one person can impact the actions of another.
Imagine you join as a manager of a team in a new organization. First day at work you look at trivial things about your team mates/ subordinates and form your own judgments, and hence expectations about them. You expect the smart looking, punctual one that asks a lot of questions to be your most valuable resource, the best performer in your team. The Pygmalion effect says that the odds are that that person really goes on to shine in the company, thanks to you.
The lesser known corollary is the Golem effect, which states that lower expectations tend to bring about lower performances in people. So the next time you predict that silent guy at the back to fail to meet the quarterly targets and he does, you've again only yourself to blame.
I know, this basically turns inside out, that oft repeated saying - the more you expect, the more you lose. But a lot of research and experimenting has gone into these phenomenons, and all of them have confirmed the hypotheses. In fact, a study on the effect of higher or lower expectations of your boss/ supervisors/ professors bringing about higher or lower performances by them have also been proved to be right. This converse was studied by Feldman and Prohaska in 1979, and reaffirmed the concept of expectations turning into self-fulfilling prophecies, working in all directions.
So imagine the power of positive vibes and higher expectations in an organization. How it could lead to a significant increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of a team. Similarly consider for a moment how a pessimistic or biased teacher could easily pull down the grades of his/her students. Think about it, and its implications in an organization, or an educational institute, or even the society at large. Negativity would achieve nothing but failure, while a genuinely positive view of the people around you, and kind, encouraging and appreciating words or thoughts communicated to them could work wonders for you.
So next time you're gonna form a premature negative perception about that silent, eccentric guy at the back of the room, think again about your quarterly targets. And bring him to the front.
For his sake, and yours!
Cheers!
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