When SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses) or SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) think of the advantages of outsourcing, what comes to mind? Cost-saving, we can fairly assume, is first on the list. What else? Quick access to talent, swift scalability, running a 24-hour operation? We are all familiar with such benefits of outsourcing. What many SMBs do not know is just how many advantages of outsourcing there are in addition to the ones I have cited above.
While there are numerous ‘unknown’ outsourcing advantages for SMBs, in this blog post, I am only going to focus on what I believe are the most advantageous of these rather less well-known outsourcing advantages (or perhaps just the most interesting one), which is willpower. But before I make the link between outsourcing and willpower, first I need to put into context just how fleeting willpower actually is – and why outsourcing can play such a significant role in your success).
In a research study carried out at Stanford University by Prof. Baba Shiv, students were pooled into two groups. The first group had to memorize a 2-digit number and the second group was given a 7-digit one. After being asked to recite the number, the two groups were offered snacks, fruit salad or cake for their participation in the study. Those who were asked to memorize the 7-digit number were twice as likely to opt for the cake. The results were unequivocal. The more you think, the more your willpower gets depleted. Our mental energy works just like the gasoline in your car.
In another study that was conducted by Jonathan Levav of Stanford Graduate School of Business, the decisions of judges at parole board meetings in Israel were analysed. The results were remarkable. In the morning (after a break), you have a 65% chance of being released, whereas at the end of the day (before morning and afternoon breaks), that figure drops close to zero. As the judges get fatigued, they fall back onto what is the safest best, a default judgment, which in this case means no release for the prisoner.
The results of these two studies are not only staggering but profound. The decisions you make as a judge are more influenced by having a break and a snack than your years of experience and even the merits of the case! What does this mean for business leaders? And how can outsourcing help us manage our cognitive load in a better way, so that we can make better decisions for what truly counts? In the book The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, we find the answer to our first question:
“Willpower is so important that using it effectively should be a high priority. Everyone accepts that limited resources must be managed, yet we fail to recognize that willpower is one of them. We act as though our supply of willpower was endless. As a result, we don’t consider it a personal resource to be managed, like food or sleep. This repeatedly puts us in a tight spot, for when we need our willpower the most, it may not be there. Decisions tap our willpower. Willpower is a mental muscle that doesn’t bounce back quickly. If you employ it for one task, there will be less power available for the next one. We lose our willpower not because we think about it, but because we don’t. Without appreciating that it can come and go, we let it do exactly that. Without intentionally protecting it every day, we allow ourselves to go from a will and a way to no will and no way. If success is what we’re after, this won’t work. When we don’t think of resolve as a resource that gets used up, when we fail to reserve it for the things that matter most… we are probably setting ourselves up for the toughest possible path to success… Like any other limited but vital resource, willpower must be managed.”
There are 3 very powerful lessons that Keller and Papasan are giving us here from their highly articulate assessment on willpower:
- Willpower is critical for making good decisions and critical for success
- Willpower must be managed effectively, like other limited resources
- We must save and protect willpower for what is truly most important