How weak willpower will ruin Singaporeans' decision-making at work

In Singapore, there is a popular belief that the temperature in the government office buildings is maintained at an optimal level to aid productivity. The assumption is that a cooler temperature leads to a more comfortable physical state and thus better work outcomes. What about our mental state? Do you make important decisions when you are at your coolest and most alert state? This could have serious consequences for your team and in some cases ultimately your career.

In the book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney, the authors state that when our “willpower” has been severely tested, we either cannot decide or make suboptimal choices.

For example, it is time to make a hiring decision. HR shortlists a list of 5 candidates and it is time for you to interview all of them. Your options are:

Schedule all interviews in one day from 2-7pm;
Schedule three interviews after 5pm on one day and another two interviews after 5pm the next day; or
Schedule three interviews from 8:30 am onwards on one day and two interviews after 2pm the next day.

Please make your choice before you read on.

Did you select option A? This is the most efficient option – get it all done in a day and make a quick decision. If you have, you probably have set yourself up to make a suboptimal decision. Why? Imagine that you are energised after lunch and in the first interview, you ask lots of tough questions. You are happy as you got some good answers from the first candidate. As the interviews progress, you are beginning to feel tired and by the time it comes to the 4th and 5th interviews, you are tired and hungry. You are also likely to be frustrated if the 4th and 5th candidates are a little bit weaker in their answers. Eager to get through the last two interviews quickly, you may ask less probing questions and be less thorough in the last few interviews.

Then you are asked to make a decision on the hire. This is an important decision. It has the potential to affect your team’s productivity, morale and sometimes even your sanity. You need to choose and most of the time you might go with the first or second candidate. This is consistent with Baumeister and Tierney’s observation from research studies that show that a parole board is more likely to grant parole to the first few candidates compared with the last few candidates.

Option B is also suboptimal for two reasons. First, psychological studies have shown that we should not make important decisions when we are mentally and physically depleted. Scheduling the interviews after 5pm might allow us to get some work done in the day but we are required to make an important talent decision just when clear judgment is needed most. Second, we have to shift our thinking about what is “work”. We have a tendency to consider our primary work activities as; attending endless meetings, writing emails, brainstorming with colleagues, making decisions, but when it comes to interviewing key hires, that is sometimes considered a secondary activity. Thus, we schedule the secondary activity after we have completed the primary work activity. Interviewing a potential hire is a primary work activity. For an organization, hire choices can create immense downstream repercussions in terms of productivity, morale and sometimes even the survival of the company. If fact, we should always be thinking about how to attract, engage and retain our talents. That should be the key activities for any manager.

Option 3 is probably the wisest choice, as you would have given your strongest willpower in the early morning or afternoon to one of the most consequential task a manager has.

Doing important tasks when our mental or physical strength is depleted leads us to make poor decisions. So the next time you are about to make an important decision, do it when you are at your clearest and alert state.