Page 47 - May-June-July Life In Naples

children were observed though a one-way mirror. About a third
grabbed the marshmallow on the spot, while another third or so
waited the endless 15 minutes until they were rewarded with two.
The others fell somewhere in-between. Mischel observed that
some would “cover their eyes with their hands or turn around so
that they can’t see the tray, others start kicking the desk, or tug
on their pigtails, or stroke the marshmallow as if it were a tiny
stuffed animal,” while others would simply eat the marshmallow
as soon as the teacher left.
Willpower is a form of focusing. The ability to wait 15 minutes
turned out to be an excellent predictor of success in later life. Ten graduation. This science fiction buff went to a local community
years later, the two marshmallow kids were reported to be more
competent and did have higher SAT scores. A 2011 brain imaging
study of a sample from the original Stanford participants when
they reached mid-life showed key differences between those with
high delay times and those with low delay times in two areas: the
prefrontal cortex (more active in high delayers) and the ventral
striatum (an area linked to addictions) when they were trying
to control their responses to alluring temptations, according to a
Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences paper 40 years later.
An outer focus lets us navigate in the environment around
us. This is not just the physical setting; it also means connecting
empathetically with those around us. Helen Keller was asked
which was worse—loss of vision or hearing. She said hearing loss
Life in Naples | May • June • July 2016
was worse as this handicap separates you
from people, whereas blindness separates
only from things.
Self-confidence also matters in terms
of success. Here is just one of many
inspirational stories of folks who stuck
it out and eventually succeeded. It’s the
true story of a near high school dropout
who also was involved in a near fatal
car accident just before high school
college as he was recovering from the auto trauma and developed
an interest in film making. His college film project caught the eye
of a Hollywood director who hired him as an assistant.
Moving up in his career, this creative and self-assured young
man learned the bitter lesson that his creative talents would be
subjugated to the financial interests of the studio bosses who had
ultimate creative control. But he believed in himself. He put all
his money into his own creative film to avoid interference from
the studios, and realized his dream.
Star Wars was released by George Lucas with incredible
success. He had the self-confidence and didn’t get intimidated or
distracted by others.
Paying attention to feedback is also critical to success.
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, in his best-selling book Thinking
Fast and Slow, relates two examples of not believing the evidence
when the culture of your industry is under attack.
Kahneman was given a treasure trove of eight years of
financial performance information from an investment firm
which advises very wealthy people. The advisors were rewarded
with big bonuses at the end of the year based on performance.
Shockingly, the analysis of the data showed none of the advisors
was consistently any better than chance in managing the money
of wealthy clients.
Obviously an upsetting conclusion if accepted by either
the advisors or their clients. Nonetheless, nothing changed
and life continued. It is just so hard to accept analysis which is
not congruent with what you have believed in and have been
accustomed to doing. It is embarrassing to admit that you give or
receive “voodoo” financial advice.
The subprime derivative meltdown—which was largely
responsible for the most recent recession—comes to mind as
another example of group think and lack of feedback. Group
think and avarice are the causes for otherwise smart people
buying collections of mortgages which ranged from the best of
the worst to the worst of the worst. When asked by one of the
originators of the scheme as to who would buy these instruments,
his reply was: “Idiots.”
Paying attention, willpower, and feedback are all three
attributes necessary for success of any individual or organization.
The good news is they can be developed with practice and
discipline. It is never too late to improve our focus.
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