Random Musings

There is a famous story of Bill Clinton giving presidential advice to newly elected Barack Obama.  He didn’t advise him on how to deal with crisis or negotiating with world leaders.  His advice?  Wear the same kind of suit everyday. His counsel was not about fashion, but about a crucial psychological concept: avoiding decision fatigue. Clinton understood that leading a nation requires countless decisions, big and small, and by simplifying some of these choices – like what to wear – one could conserve mental energy for more significant matters. This story is not just about two Presidents; it's about helping our staff make camp better.  For them.       

Studies show that our brains executive function, our ability to make decisions, tire over time.  Like muscle fatigue, it doesn’t matter if you are lifting weights in the gym or piling sandbags to save your home from flooding, the importance of your mental task is not important and has no bearing on your exhaustion.  Tired is tired.  Insignificant decisions are as tiring as the big ones.

Camp, especially in your first year is a decision-making boot camp.  Our staff make 1000’s of tiny decisions a day, hoping that they are the right ones and that they wont lead to disaster.  I remember in my early years making a decision, realizing that it was truly terrible, but having to see it through until I could find an exit ramp.  One that didn’t reveal to the world that I was a total fake that didn’t know what I was doing.  By the end of the evening, I could barely make the decision about what to eat when we went out. Throughtout my life I have made many questionable decisions becuase i wasnt aware I was in this mentally fatigued states.

The research backs this up. Participants that were given a long list of menu items to choose from before a math test got lower scores, while those with fewer choices scored higher.  Another found that given condiment samples (In this case Jam) people were more likely to buy the product if they could only taste two or three.  Given more choices they became overwhelmed and walked away.  There are a whole bunch of theories as to why this occurs but time and time again people say they want more choices yet make better choices and are happier with them when there are only a few.

What this got to do with Camp?  It gives us the science to show staff why following a schedule is so important, and shouldn’t be so fucking difficult.  Following the schedule, the one you spent days on only to be ignored actually takes the little decisions out of their lives, and makes it easier.  They know where to go, when to go, what to do when they get there, when to stop and where to go next.  By following the schedule, they are preserving their executive function for the big decisions.  Like asking does what happens at camp really stay at camp, and now mental function preserved and firing on all cylinders, they can get to the correct answer.  Never. And adjust their behavior accordingly.

Now you have the science to show them that if they simply follow the schedule they will have the faculty to not make bad decisions.

I am sure there are other applications to this.