I can’t answer the first part of that question, but I can answer the second with a very firm ‘yes’.
If you are in business, particularly sales, then you need to know about this.
By explanatory style we mean how you explain the events that you experience.
For example, say you’ve just left your laptop on the train. The train departs the station and then you realise.
Maybe you’ll swear a little (or a lot) and you’ll probably try to explain or give a reason to yourself why it happened. Think about it for a moment, if it happened to you, what might be a likely reason for it happening? (It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a laptop, or don’t use trains, just imagine the scene).
What reason would you give?
- ‘It was that stupid kid’s fault, tripping over me and distracting me’,
- ‘I’ve just bought the thing, I’m not used to remembering to pick it up’,
- ‘Not again, I’m so forgetful’,
- ‘I’m just so pathetic’.
Can you see how these reasons differ? Or how some of them are similar in some respects? Admittedly, this is rather an extreme example to illustrate the point; typically the answers can be a little more subtle.
Explanatory style is said to have 3 attributes:
Personal
Permanent
Pervasive
Returning to our list of excuses The first reason wasn’t personal; we’d blamed that kid. It wasn’t permanent either; it was an isolated incident. It wasn’t pervasive; it was a very specific event.
The second reason is similar except that it is rather more personal, it was clearly our fault but we can see that it’s not going to be a permanent situation and won’t necessarily affect other parts of our life.
The third reason is certainly personal, and we are also implying that we are normally like that so it is permanent. But, pervasive? Not really we are only saying that we are forgetful.
Finally, ‘I’m so pathetic’, is personal, permanent, and pretty much pervasive too. If you think like this then really, you should try and do something about it.
So why does it matter how you explain things to yourself?
Not surprisingly, research has discovered a connection with our explanatory style to depression. If we tend to explain bad events in a personal, permanent and pervasive way then we are pessimistic.
The reverse is true when considering good events. If we’ve just won a race and we are an optimist, then we’d likely say that we’re better than the others. A pessimist might say that the others had an off-day or that we had a lucky break, or the favourite was injured.
What has this got to do with business?
In almost all cases it is far better to have an optimistic rather than pessimistic explanatory style. Some jobs call for a more cautionary outlook. If you are involved in assessing risks, or in the security or fire industry for instance. By and large though, being optimistic will serve you much better than not. Some jobs: telesales, insurance sales, and countless others, demand an optimistic outlook. It is what produces the required persistence that leads to success. In fact, a very well researched study involving one of the largest US insurance companies documents how they massively improved their sales staff’s performance by introducing selection tests based on explanatory style.
Can I improve my explanatory style?
Yes, you can.
Of course this short piece can only scratch at the surface of this fascinating subject. If you want to learn more (including the insurance company research) and also learn how to improve your explanatory style and hence optimism, then get hold of a copy of the excellent book Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman.
If you’d like more direct help on how to improve your performance, then get in touch.
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What is your explanatory style,
and does it matter?
I can’t answer the first part of that question, but I can answer the second with a very firm ‘yes’.
If you are in business, particularly sales, then you need to know about this.
By explanatory style we mean how you explain the events that you experience.
For example, say you’ve just left your laptop on the train. The train departs the station and then you realise.
Maybe you’ll swear a little (or a lot) and you’ll probably try to explain or give a reason to yourself why it happened. Think about it for a moment, if it happened to you, what might be a likely reason for it happening? (It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a laptop, or don’t use trains, just imagine the scene).
What reason would you give?
Can you see how these reasons differ? Or how some of them are similar in some respects? Admittedly, this is rather an extreme example to illustrate the point; typically the answers can be a little more subtle.
Explanatory style is said to have 3 attributes:
Returning to our list of excuses The first reason wasn’t personal; we’d blamed that kid. It wasn’t permanent either; it was an isolated incident. It wasn’t pervasive; it was a very specific event.
The second reason is similar except that it is rather more personal, it was clearly our fault but we can see that it’s not going to be a permanent situation and won’t necessarily affect other parts of our life.
The third reason is certainly personal, and we are also implying that we are normally like that so it is permanent. But, pervasive? Not really we are only saying that we are forgetful.
Finally, ‘I’m so pathetic’, is personal, permanent, and pretty much pervasive too. If you think like this then really, you should try and do something about it.
So why does it matter how you explain things to yourself?
Not surprisingly, research has discovered a connection with our explanatory style to depression. If we tend to explain bad events in a personal, permanent and pervasive way then we are pessimistic.
The reverse is true when considering good events. If we’ve just won a race and we are an optimist, then we’d likely say that we’re better than the others. A pessimist might say that the others had an off-day or that we had a lucky break, or the favourite was injured.
What has this got to do with business?
In almost all cases it is far better to have an optimistic rather than pessimistic explanatory style. Some jobs call for a more cautionary outlook. If you are involved in assessing risks, or in the security or fire industry for instance. By and large though, being optimistic will serve you much better than not. Some jobs: telesales, insurance sales, and countless others, demand an optimistic outlook. It is what produces the required persistence that leads to success. In fact, a very well researched study involving one of the largest US insurance companies documents how they massively improved their sales staff’s performance by introducing selection tests based on explanatory style.
Can I improve my explanatory style?
Yes, you can.
Of course this short piece can only scratch at the surface of this fascinating subject. If you want to learn more (including the insurance company research) and also learn how to improve your explanatory style and hence optimism, then get hold of a copy of the excellent book Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman.
If you’d like more direct help on how to improve your performance, then get in touch.