Small decisions

Attention spans

Do you remember the days when phone numbers had seven digits? It’s the same reason why schools divide the teaching day into 5 - 7 periods. It’s all got to do with why you can remember 6 items for a shopping list without writing it down, but probably not 12.

George Miller, in 1956, published one of the most-cited psychology papers ever, “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information”. In it, he explained how we have neurologically-limited attentional capacity to approximately seven ‘chunks’ of information. What’s important here is that these aren’t individual ‘facts’ or ‘items’ — but groups or categories.

So, apart from dictating phone number configurations, what’s the practical application of this?

Recently I had a call with a CEO to whom I had to convey my major insights following the completion of a phase of work. I could have talked at her for half an hour covering off 30 ideas. Instead, I said, “I have five major areas of comment, and there’s a logical sequence to them.” I then listed them as headlines, and asked her where she’d like to begin. Throughout the discussion, she easily recalled all five of these and, within each, we had a focussed and productive discussion.

Question: What can you do to focus others’ attention on complex material by limiting categories of information to “7 plus or minus 2”?

Dirty fingernails

My wife and I keep a ‘must try restaurant’ list, and when we are in the mood for a ‘date night’ we’ll give one a shot. Recently we were pleased to get a booking at one; its Google rating was 4.8 (out of 5).

So, what could go wrong?

Well, this sounds petty, but our waiter had dirty fingernails. Really dirty, like he’d been digging in the garden, or repairing something oily, and hadn’t scrubbed before coming to work.

My wife and I both noticed straight away and we glanced across at one another, both registering a slight reflex of disgust.

He served us our drinks and first course and then, to our relief, he was replaced (by someone with clean hands). By the way, the food was perfectly fine (not outstanding), yet, my wife and I readily agreed we’ve no compulsion to go back. Now, was that the food? Or has there been an unconscious aversion installed?

The encounter got me thinking about inadvertent signals that businesses give to us, their customers. It’s how staff behave when they’re not serving people (are they slouching around, scrolling on phones?), the music that plays over the PA (is it too loud to think?), the smell of the premises (a faint whiff of cold fried food?), whether the toilet rolls or hand towels in bathrooms are replaced.

And, more importantly still, is senior management even aware of these signals that go out to customers?

Question: What inadvertent signals do your staff (or premises, or digital presence) give your customers?

The long game

At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Swedish Crown wanted to ‘future-proof’ itself and asked a simple question: “Where can we plant trees for future ship production?”

The trees in question were oaks, and the delegation in charge of finding the right spot settled on an island, Visings?, in the middle of large lake. The conditions were perfect for growing tall, straight trees, and a planting regime began. The Navy planted 300,000 trees in 10 years.

But, guess what?

Naval technology evolved before the trees matured. Wooden boats disappeared, and the oaks kept growing. The trees reached full size at the beginning of the 20th century and, while they didn’t end up as ship hulls, decks and masts, the trees are harvested for flooring, veneers, furniture, and even whiskey barrels.

Most are still there, and you can even visit and take a look at hundreds of hectares of enormous, stately, and very straight trees.

Question: On what issues do you have to think way further in advance than most people do?

As always let me know you’ve enjoyed reading this week by clicking the "Like". And, if you’re in the mind for it, drop me a line on what you’ve enjoyed, or a thought that the above has stimulated for you or your team.

Until next Friday, notice the small decisions around you that designers, strategists and service businesses consciously (and unconsciously) make — and their effects.

Andrew