I had an interesting little encounter yesterday, and thought I would share it with you.
It was Saturday, and I had to go to the bank to use the ATM machine. It was just before one o’clock, and the bank was still open. Anyway, I was standing in the foyer of the bank waiting for the ATM, and this guy, who was my age or maybe a little older, walks up to the entrance. The cramped choreography of the foyer prompted me to say to him, “I’m just waiting for the machine, go right around me if you need the bank itself.” He looked at me and said, “I think they’re closed.”
So I said to him, “well, I think the door is still open.” He looked at his watch and replied, “well, the sign says they close at one o’clock, it’s one o’clock, so I don’t think they’re open.” And I said to him, “well, that doesn’t matter, if the door is unlocked you can go right in.” So he tentatively stepped into the foyer tried the door, and it was open. In he went.
Anyway, I got done with my own business at the ATM, and this guy was coming back out at about the same time. He said to me, “thanks for the advice.” I just smiled and said, “hey . . . it’s what I do.”
It was a relatively minor incident, but it illustrates a very common problem, which is the demon of hesitation. This guy wanted something, i.e., to go into the bank and talk to a teller. The door was unlocked, but he was not sure if he had permission to open it. The sign said it closed at one o’clock, his watch told him it was one o’clock, so those two pieces of information added up, in his mind, to an insurmountable obstacle. All I did was give him permission to disregard two pieces of negative information, and take minimal risk of failure. He had nothing to lose– worst case scenario would be him standing right where he was already, i.e. outside the bank. It was important not to hesitate, though, because while the door was open at the moment, it wasn’t going to be open for very long.
A few Principles of Applied Stupidity came into play here– he was thinking too much, trying to be too precise in his actions, so I gave him permission to just go ahead and bumble, and risk “doing something wrong” and failure by trying the door.
I was very happy to have been in a position to help this guy out, however minor a bit of assistance it was. It’s not that I’m some great genius, it’s just that I have suffered from my own demons of hesitation throughout my entire life, so much so that I have been forced to confront them and learn techniques with which to deal with them. They can be overcome once you remove your internal doubt and realize it’s possible to do it. I have great sympathy for people who have their own demons of hesitation. These demons are the root of many evils, and encouraging people to face and overcome them is very rewarding.
© Justin Locke
