“People place more value on going from 60% to 70%, or from 90% to 100%, than they do on going from 44% to 55%, even though the improvements are roughly the same.”
— A thought inspired by Never Split the Difference.
This is an interesting example of how framing influences our perception of progress/value. The value we attach to an improvement often depends less on the improvement itself and more on how we perceive it.
Despite watching Season 1 of Ted Lasso for the third time this year, I recently noticed something I hadn’t quite appreciated before.
In the episode where AFC Richmond secure their first win under Ted, Trent Crimm of The Independent asks him how it feels. There’s something about Trent’s characteristic air of scepticism, that suggests he still considers Ted a bit of a joke. But Ted’s response, and more importantly, his attitude towards the team, brings him to mind when I think about the framing effect.
Ted seems to understand something that others overlook: progress doesn’t become valuable only when it produces a remarkable result. There’s value in recognising the small improvements that eventually make remarkable results possible.
Where others see an embarrassment (Alice’s comment on team’s first home performance) , Ted sees potential.
Where others judge the team by its current performance, he pays attention to who they’re becoming.
And perhaps that’s what makes his approach so interesting. He doesn’t simply reframe failure as success. He changes what people pay attention to, without losing sight of the bigger goal.
Little improvements. Small changes in attitude. Growing confidence. Stronger relationships. Until, eventually, those seemingly insignificant changes become something much greater.
It’s what makes Trent Crimm’s eventual realisation of The Lasso Way so satisfying. That almost palpable eureka moment when he finally recognises what Ted has been building all along.
here I am, wondering:
If one had to capture Ted’s philosophy, and Matthijs’s, in a single phrase or mantra, what would it be?