DELIVERING UNDER PRESSURE

 

DELIVERING UNDER PRESSURE

 

Success and failure are very much dependent on the paradoxes of the mind.

 

There had been an experiment with two groups of people.

 

The first group was given a task to find a solution to a problem. They were given sufficient time to deliberate. They were not saddled with anything else or any distraction during the period.

 

Though they had finally submitted their solution, it was found to be wrong.

 

The second group was given the same task. However the group was saddled with distractions during the whole period. They did not have any free moment to think at all. They could not deliberate freely like the other group. They had the same time the other group had.

 

Finally when they came up with the solution it was found to be correct.

 

The findings were both emphatic and paradoxical. Those who had enough time failed in picking the right solution whereas the distractions had improved the performance of the second group manifold.

 

Thinking too much was the curse for the first group. Their conscious deliberations finally made them reach the wrong end.

 

For the second group the conscious mind was distracted. They were forced to rely on memory as they could not freely deliberate at all. It enabled the subconscious mind to come up with the right solution.

 

The author focuses on the penalty shootout in a football match. Unless the penalty taker could free his mind of emotions that swell within and could keep the mind blank the lonely walk from the middle of the ground to the penalty spot would play havoc with his chances to score.

 

My own experiences reveal the same. When I had to write an examination or face an interview, it was imperative I had to prepare well to succeed. However I did not succeed whenever I had failed to keep my mind blank for a short while   preceding the examination or the interview.

I had seen my son succeeding in his attempts when he had adopted the tactic.

 

Courtesy THE GREATEST, Matthew Syed