Sidetracked: Why Can’t We Stick to the Plan?
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“The best-laid schemes of mice and men go often awry.” – Robert Burns, 1785
An entrepreneur starts a company with plans to go public, but ultimately accepts a low-ball acquisition offer from a competitor. A newlywed husband plans to spend 10 minutes in Whole Foods picking up the ingredients for a romantic dinner, but ends up spending an hour comparison shopping for organic dog food and craft beer. A college student resolves to spend every Wednesday evening studying in the library, only to spend most of that time watching reality TV. So what happened?
In her new book, Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan , behavioral scientist and HBS Associate Professor Francesca Gino explores the unexpected forces that often keep people from following through with their plans. The book, based on years of colorful experimental research, shows how we can be disastrously distracted by seemingly innocuous factors — and how distractions can be avoided.
This excerpt from the book’s introduction describes how three different sets of forces sidetracked Gino’s husband during a recent trip to Dubai. – Carmen Nobel
Read original articleTags: Robert Burns, Sidetracked, Whole Foods
