59 Seconds: Think A Little, Change A Lot

Citation

Palethorpe, R. (2011), "59 Seconds: Think A Little, Change A Lot", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 185-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/00197851111123659

As Britain's only Professor for the Public Understanding of Psychology, Richard Wiseman makes regular appearances in the media and is the author of previous popular science titles such as Quirkology and The Luck Factor. His current work, 59 Seconds, is billed as a self‐help book but covers a wide range of behavioural topics, suggesting that it may also appeal to trainers who specialise in interpersonal skills content.

In the introduction, Wiseman provides a succinct example to illustrate the aims of the book. He recounts work which suggests that the “Yale Goal Study”, often cited as proof of the effectiveness of long‐term goal‐setting, has no basis in published research and may in fact never have taken place. He notes that “the public and business world have bought into modern‐day mind myths for years and, in so doing, may have decreased the likelihood of achieving their aims and ambitions”. Accordingly, the approach of this volume is to present short, easily‐implemented effectiveness techniques which are supported by research.

While the book also covers the subjects of happiness, attraction, relationships, stress, parenting and personality, it is the chapters on persuasion, motivation, creativity and decision‐making that are likely to be most useful to workplace trainers. Each section presents a commentary on research relating to that topic before giving a summary of how to implement “quick tips” in less than a minute (the “59 Seconds” of the title). Throughout the text, additional material is presented as a series of highlighted boxouts which discuss related research in summary form.

The section on Persuasion is typical of the range of content included in each chapter. The main discussion opens by considering studies which, counter‐intuitively, demonstrate that increasing reward can lead to decreased intrinsic motivation. The discussion then turns to tips for interviewees and covers the importance of likeability, when to introduce difficult topics and how to cope with mistakes. Other topics include the effects of requesting small favours, how the occasional slip‐up can increase likeability and the negative effects of gossip.

Although the section on Motivation is largely focused on life goals, it does provide some potentially interesting material for trainers by introducing ideas around goal‐setting and the close scrutiny of personal aims. This is followed by a section on Creativity which discusses the pitfalls of brainstorming as an idea‐generation tool and suggests several more contemplative methods as an alternative. A later chapter on Decision Making goes on to discuss the perils of groupthink, how to spot (and use) psychologically effective sales techniques, and a questionnaire which categorises respondents by type as an input to minimisation of regret in the decision‐making process.

Throughout the text, Wiseman is careful to base his effectiveness tips on published studies and an extensive list of notes and references is provided. However, the book is written for the lay reader, and the sheer range of topics covered does not always permit the introduction of counter‐arguments or critique of the source material. For this reason, it may frustrate academically‐minded readers who prefer rigorous analysis, and the book does not by itself provide enough depth to allow comfortable incorporation of these ideas into an interpersonal skills programme.

Despite this, I found the book to be an entertainingly written overview of stimulating, and often fascinating, psychological research. While I would be personally wary of using these studies as core course content, I have found that they have been useful in providing empirically‐based discussion points or asides during training courses. For this reason, I would recommend the book as light background reading for trainers who would like to add colour and interest to their existing interpersonal skills programmes.