Influencing Outcomes Through Psychology: 6 Strategies to Adjust Expectations
The Expectancy Effect, a psychological phenomenon, has been proven to significantly impact team performance and dynamics in various contexts, including leadership. This effect demonstrates that our expectations, whether conscious or unconscious, can shape our outcomes or reports of expected results.
In a recent experiment, participants were asked to train rats to complete a maze. Half of the participants were told they had "maze-bright" rats, while the other half were told they had "maze-dull" rats. Interestingly, after five days of training, "maze-bright" rats completed the task twice as fast as "maze-dull" rats. This suggests that when participants expected better performance, they unconsciously changed their training methods and improved the rats' performance. Conversely, when participants expected poor performance, they unconsciously became worse teachers and did not train the rats as well.
This experiment highlights the influence of expectations on performance, a concept known as The Expectancy Effect. This effect has been proven in numerous studies involving rats, dogs, and humans.
In leadership and team contexts, the Expectancy Effect is applied by setting clear, high expectations for team members, communicating confidence and optimism, fostering motivation through recognition and encouragement, using empathy to tailor expectations and motivation, influencing group dynamics by creating trust and alignment around shared goals, and challenging the accuracy of negative beliefs.
By holding positive expectations, communicating them effectively, and aligning motivation with team goals, leaders can enhance individual and group performance. This aligns closely with expectancy-value theory, which holds that behavior is driven by expected success and the value placed on goals.
Leaders are expected to address these expectations for themselves and their team. The team expectation exercise involves watching a video, identifying explicit and implicit expectations, and working together to come up with alternative evidence for negative beliefs and celebrate positive ones. The exercise encourages eliminating negative expectations or actively working to fix them.
Table 1 lists cues like "nail it" and "nod" that set a win vibe and lock in trust respectively. The team is encouraged to pick one cue from Table 1 and use it consistently for one day, then track the vibe shift. Identifying both explicit and implicit expectations is crucial to address one's own expectations and improve team performance.
Table 2 suggests adjustments to these cues based on the team's performance, such as doubling down on praise during a slump or showing proof of past hits when there's friction. The exercise aims to identify and address both positive and negative expectations within a team.
In conclusion, by understanding and harnessing the power of expectations, leaders can positively influence team dynamics and performance. This exercise provides a practical approach to identifying and addressing both positive and negative expectations within a team, fostering a culture of high performance and success.
[1] Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215. [2] Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in organizations (6th ed.). Pearson Education. [4] Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). The team as a self-regulating system: A dynamic approach to team performance. In Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 385-434). Wiley-Blackwell.
- The Expectancy Effect, a psychological phenomenon, is not exclusive to leadership and teams; it has been demonstrated in numerous health-and-wellness studies involving rats, dogs, and humans, suggesting that our expectations can impact personal-growth and performance in various contexts, including science, education-and-self-development, and finance.
- Furthermore, understanding the Expectancy Effect can aid mental-health as well; for instance, by addressing and eliminating negative expectations, individuals can improve their attitudes and behaviors, promoting a more positive and productive mindset.
- A leader can leverage the Expectancy Effect to foster a successful business by empowering team members, setting clear expectations, and cultivating a supportive and encouraging environment that emphasizes growth and development.
- The practical approach presented in the team expectation exercise can help leaders in various industries, including health-and-wellness, education-and-self-development, and finance, identify and address negative expectations, ultimately leading to improved team dynamics, performance, and success.
