During my time as a manager, when committing for a delivery and a deadline, I always added about 20% to the time estimated by my team.
Trying to steal some time? Not at all, I was making sure we respect the dead-line because out of my experience, this is how much time we actually needed.
Poor estimation from my team? No, just people doing their job well and trying to give the best estimate possible with no intention to stall.
Why is this happening? Because most of us have what we call an optimism bias. At first glance you might say it’s a disadvantage to have it, we cannot keep the dead-line, but in fact the opposite is true.
Apart from being in a better mood when we are optimistic than when we are pessimistic, optimism also determines us to try things even when the chances of succeeding are small. And you might say it is madness, but if you think about it, great discoveries and great ideas that changed the world, most of them would not have emerged if their creator was being realistic. Optimism allows human beings to try and fail and then try again until they succeed.
This is true even in marriage, if people would take into consideration how many marriages end up in divorce, they would not get married in the first place. Yet maybe it is not about making sure it succeeds but about the experience.
Also, research has consistently found that optimism is associated with better health outcomes including cardiovascular and immune functions, longevity, coping and recovery in case of a disease not to mention a better mental health.
In my experience as a coach, I noticed that each of us has a story that we tell ourselves, a philosophy about us and about life. This story influences us throughout our lives and determines our thoughts and actions. We learned it as children, we absolutely believe it’s true and, from what I’ve seen, we do not know how to live differently. It can be a positive one, when we trust our capabilities and we believe good things will happen. And, even when bad things happen, we are confident we will overcome them effectively. Or it can be a negative belief when we expect the worst. But these are just stories, life is filled with mixed events and our philosophy should not be about what is true or false, that the world is good or bad. This theory is so debatable that it is pointless to even spend time thinking about it. Our philosophy should be about what is helping us succeed and have a fulfilling life and what is not.
There is also another bias that we need to consider here; it seems we are so attached to our beliefs and so keen to prove ourselves right that we unconsciously choose events and people that can prove us right. So, pay great attention to your life philosophy as it determines everything that happens in your life.
Nancy Kline wrote in her book “Time to Think”:
We have to make a philosophical choice about what is and it is not true about the nature of life and the nature of the human being. I chose a positive philosophical view of human nature and of life, I chose it not because it is pleasant or kind (…), I chose it because it works(…). The positive philosophical choice is a pragmatic one.
When we are optimistic, when we trust our abilities, we are more motivated to think for ourselves, to find solutions and to try them. Similarly, if we think the world is a friendly place and our endeavors can succeed, we are more willing to take steps towards our goals. The positive choice keeps people thinking and acting. A negative approach would mean surrender. If we keep optimistic and try, we have a chance of succeeding while if we do not even try, our chances drop to zero.
I hear that what people regret the most towards the end of their lives is not failing at what they did. They regret not trying, not having the courage of giving their dreams a chance.
If you are up for a challenge now, do this short exercise: imagine yourself towards the end of your life. You have your family and your loved ones around you and you look back at your life.
What is it that you wish you would have tried when you were younger?
What risks do you wish you would have taken?
Take a deep breath and start! Now!
