Did you know that most ‘door close’ buttons in US elevators don’t actually work? People still press them. Much like they still go to meetings that don’t work. That got me thinking …

Welcome back to “Irresistible Communication”.

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Two minutes, one insight

on how to find better

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words

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.

Speaker 3: Did you know that most door close buttons

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in US elevators don't actually work?

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That's a true story.

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For regulatory reasons, doors

need to be open for a minimum

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time to allow people to get in.

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To comply, many buttons have been

disabled or use a timer that makes them

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basically useless because when the timer

expires, the doors will close anyway.

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Psychologists call this placebo buttons.

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And the funny thing about placebo

buttons is that people still press them.

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Why?

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Perhaps because it feels good.

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It feels like you are doing something.

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You are in control,

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even when nothing really happens.

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And isn't that exactly how

some organizations work?

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They have all these buttons to

press that have zero effect.

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The meetings, the reviews, the reports,

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all of which give you the

illusion of progress, but too

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often have no actual effect.

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But what's really interesting

is what happens next?

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People start having opinions about it.

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They develop tools to press

the button more effectively.

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They create templates and

procedures to increase efficiency.

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They even hold workshops

about button-pressing.

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They write guidelines.

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And still, the door doesn't move an inch.

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But you are already in the trap because

the better you get at pressing a

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non-functioning button, the harder it

becomes to admit that it was, well,

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never functioning in the first place.

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Actual progress only starts when

someone dares to ask, “what if this

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button doesn't do anything at all?

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Maybe we shouldn't get

better at pressing it.”

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That moment of clarity can feel

uncomfortable, but it is also the

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only way to stop wasting energy on

placebo progress and start lighting

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a path that actually opens doors.

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Keep lighting the path.