Reality v. The Lake Wobegon Effect

I once saw a speaker at a conference ask participants to close their eyes and raise their hand if they thought they were among the top 50% of performers in the room. Then he asked them to keep their hand raised if they were in the top 25% of performers in the room, and then again he asked them to keep their hand raised if they believed they were in the top 10%. Finally, he asked them to open their eyes. What they saw was that over half the room believed they were in the top 10%.

This illusion of superiority is really very common. In fact so much so that psychologists have a term for it. It’s called the Lake Wobegon effect, named after the fictitious Minnesota town created by Garrison Keillor who described it as a place “where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”  The Lake Wobegon effect refers to the tendency to overestimate our positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate our negative qualities, relative to others.

Now, you’re probably wondering to yourself, “is it really such a bad thing to have positive self-regard”? After all, don’t we aspire to raise children with positive self-esteem who believe they have the ability to accomplish great things?

Well, yes. But, it becomes a problem when our view of ourselves doesn’t jive with reality. And by the way, having a perception of ourselves as being “all that” when in fact, we’re “so not” isn’t just a problem for individuals. It’s also a problem for businesses. A business that thinks it’s already doing a great job relative to its competition doesn’t see the need to improve, or try harder. This of course, can be the death knell for a business.

So, how do we guard against it?

Here’s a thought. Why not try to infuse a little humility into the situation. By humility I mean two things; we need to “think less of ourselves” and “think of ourselves less.“  Despite the way it may sound, “thinking less of ourselves” can actually be a good thing.  After all, it causes us to focus more on the areas we need to improve.  At the same time “thinking of ourselves less”, forces us to focus more on others – like our customers and our relationships with them.

So next time you think you, or your business is “all that”, check yourself.  It can’t hurt and it just might force you to improve.

..This much I know.

-Jeanine