Day 2 Bounce

[Buzz Blick]

Hi Everyone,  I love the term Day-Two Bounce too :-)  It is so much more
interesting and descriptive and fun than the scientific name of the
Zeigarnik Effect.

In case readers are not familiar with the term, there is a very nice, short,
description in Emery and Purser's book, The Search Conference, (p.180).  It
says "The idea here is to create a Zeigarnik Effect (Marrow, 1969;
Zeigarnik, 1927).  According to this theory, the excitement generated during
the (previous session) will be sustained, pending completion of the
unfinished task in the morning.  The Zeigarnik effect occurs when intensive
work on a task is interrupted, leading to a heightened motivation to
complete unfinished business.  Even giving notice that there will be a recap
of the earlier work done first thing in the morning is sufficient for
producing the Zeigarnik effect."

I try to remind myself of this effect whenever I am tempted to try "wrapping
things up" too completely at the end of a day, when we have more days to go.
It works better to leave some task unfinished, and pick it up the next day.
There will be better products and much more energy.   I think that Marvin
Weisbord calls this the need for "soak time".  Whatever, it seems to work.

Thanks for the new term for the result...the Day-Two Bounce.

Buzz

-----Original Message-----
From: owen <owen at TMN.COM>
To: OSLIST at listserv.idbsu.edu <OSLIST at listserv.idbsu.edu>
Date: Monday, December 14, 1998 4:47 AM
Subject: Re: Day 2 Bounce


>>How common is a day two BOUNCE of surprisingly rapid productivity, in your
>>experiences?
>*******************************************************************
>I almost hate to say this -- but the Day-Two Bounce is normative behavior,
>which is why I find doing anything less than 2 or 2 1/2 day open spaces of
>markedly decreasing value. It is not that a 1 day OST is without worth, but
>compared to what can be accomplished in 2 days, the 1 dayer doesn't even
>make the rankings. I think the reasons for all this are probably pretty
>simple and straight forward. On Day 1 I find people operating in a rather
>tight manner...it just doesn't have the joy and lightness (even if it is a
>very serious matter) of the second day. It may be much better than they
>have done before, but it is nothing like what they are capable of. There is
>in fact a learning curve, and it takes a day to move on it. The central
>piece is the Law of Two Feet. Folks use it a lot more on Day 2. And when
>the Law of Two Feet is really working, everything seems to go into flow
>state. Talk about productivity.
>
>Another factor, I think is that on Day 1 folks tend to bitch a bit -- if
>that is what they need to do. And having bitched and seen that nobody got
>shot -- they are then free to really get to work. Which they do with a
>vengeance. This is a hard point to get over to sponsors, who for fairly
>obvious reason would like to have everything pretty. But if the atmosphere
>is bitchy, you got to get it out on the table before you move on. This is
>especially critical when people are dealing with something like strategic
>planning. The sponsor looks at what is going on and says -- hey they are
>just dealing with the present and the past -- no future. But the point is
>that the present and the past will be your future unless you deal directly
>and well with both.
>
>Anyhow, The Day2 Bounce (I love the phrase -- thank you) is pretty much SOP
>(standard operating procedure) Enjoy it. I always do. Harrison
>