Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, Second Edition

by Joseph Grenny

In 1965, Dr. Mischel collaborated on a study with Albert Bandura that openly challenged the assumption that will was a fixed trait. Always a student of human learning, Bandura worked with Mischel to design an experiment to test the stability of subjects who had delayed gratification. In an experiment similar to the marshmallow studies, the two scholars observed fourth-and fifth-graders in similar circumstances. They placed children who had not demonstrated that they could delay gratification into contact with adult role models who knew how to delay. The greedy kids observed adults who put their heads down for a nap or who got up from the chair and engaged in some distracting activity. The original “grabbers” saw techniques for delaying gratification. And to everyone’s delight, they followed suit. After a single exposure to an adult model, children who previously hadn’t delayed suddenly became stars at delaying. Even more interesting, in follow-up studies conducted months later, the children who had learned to delay retained much of what they had learned during the brief modeling session. So what about those hardwired genetic characteristics or traits that had predicted so much? The answer to this important question is good news to all of us and most certainly offers hope to Henry. When Mischel took a closer look at individuals who routinely held out for the greater reward, he concluded that delayers are simply more skilled at avoiding short-term temptations. They didn’t me...