Baba Shiv: Sometimes it's good to give up the driver's seat

Translator: Morton Bast Reviewer: Thu-Huong Ha

Translator: Belén García Penerbosa Reviewer: Mario Cal

I'm going to start on a slightly somber note.

Vou comezar por relatar un momento triste

Two thousand and seven, five years ago,

2007. Hai cinco anos

my wife gets diagnosed with breast cancer.

á miña muller diagnosticáronlle cancro de mama.

Stage IIB.

Estadio IIB

[este non é un sitio agradable]

Now, looking back, the most harrowing part of that experience

Agora, botando a vista atrás, dámonos conta de que o peor daquilo

was not just the hospital visits --

non só foron as visitas ao hospital,

these were very painful for my wife, understandably so.

coas que a miña muller sufría moito, o que é comprensible.

It was not even the initial shock of knowing that she had breast cancer

Nin sequera o foi o duro golpe de saber que padecía cancro

at just 39 years old,

con tan só 39 anos

absolutely no history of cancer in her family.

e sen ningún antecedente na familia.

The most horrifying and agonizing part of the whole experience

A parte máis angustiosa e atroz de toda esta experiencia

was we were making decisions after decisions after decisions

foi que tivemos que tomar decisión tras decisión, tras decisión.

that were being thrust upon us.

Deixábannos elixir.

Should it be a mastectomy? Should it be a lumpectomy?

Deberíase realizar unha mastectomía? Ou debería ser unha tumorectomía?

Should it be a more aggressive form of treatment,

Deberíase aplicar un tratamento máis agresivo

given that it was stage IIB?

dado que se trataba dun estadio IIB?

With all the side effects?

Con tódolos efectos secundarios?

Or should it be a less aggressive form of treatment?

Ou debería aplicarse un tratamento menos agresivo?

And these were being thrust upon us by the doctors.

Os médicos deixábano na nosa man.

Now you could ask this question,

Cabería preguntarse

why were the doctors doing this?

por qué fan isto os médicos.

A simplistic answer would be,

Unha resposta simplista sería

the doctors are doing this

que o fan porque queren protexerse no ámbito legal.

because they want to protect themselves legally.

I think that is too simplistic.

Creo que iso é demasiado simplista.

These are well-meaning doctors,

Son médicos ben intencionados;

some of them have gone on to become very good friends.

algúns mesmo chegaron a converterse en moi bos amigos.

They probably were simply following the wisdom

Probablemente só seguían esa sabedoría

that has come down through the ages,

acumulada desde hai moito,

this adage that when you're making decisions,

esa máxima que di que, á hora de tomar decisións,

especially decisions of importance,

sobre todo as importantes,

it's best to be in charge, it's best to be in control,

é mellor estar ao mando, ter o temón,

it's best to be in the driver's seat.

ter o control da situación.

And we were certainly in the driver's seat,

Dende logo que tiñamos o control,

making all these decisions.

tomando tódalas decisións.

And let me tell you -- if some of you have been there,

Déixenme dicirlles que, se algún de vostedes viviu isto,

it was a most agonizing and harrowing experience.

foi a peor e máis tormentosa das experiencias.

Which got me thinking.

Todo isto fíxome pensar.

I said, is there any validity to this whole adage

Hai algunha validez no dito

that when you're making decisions,

de que cando se toman decisións

it's best to take the driver's seat,

é mellor ter o control da situación,

be in charge, be in control?

ter o mando, ter o temón?

Ou hai situacións nas que é moito mellor

Or are there contexts where we're far better off

taking the passenger's seat

apartarse para un lado

e deixar que outros tomen as decisións por nós?

and have someone else drive?

For example, a trusted financial advisor,

Por exemplo, un asesor financeiro en que confíen,

could be a trusted doctor, etc.

un médico de confianza, etc.

And since I study human decision making,

Xa que estudo o xeito de tomar decisións,

decidín levar a cabo novas investigacións

I said, I'm going to run some studies

to find some answers.

para dar coas respostas.

And I'm going to share one of these studies with you today.

Hoxe vou compartir con vostedes un destes estudos.

So, imagine that all of you are participants in the study.

Imaxinen que todos participan nel.

Vou dicirlles o que teñen que facer para participar:

I want to tell you that what you're going to do in the study is,

you're going to drink a cup of tea.

teñen que tomar un té.

If you're wondering why, I'll tell you why in a few seconds from now.

Estaranse preguntando o porqué, e saberano nuns intres.

You are going to solve a series of puzzles,

Teñen que resolver unha serie de crebacabezas

and I'm going to show you examples of these puzzles momentarily.

que lles vou amosar en breve.

And the more puzzles you solve,

Cantos máis resolvan,

the greater the chances that you'll win some prizes.

máis posibilidades teñen de gañar un premio.

Now, why do you have to consume the tea?

Así que, por que deben tomar o té?

Why? Because it makes a lot of sense:

Por que? Ten moito sentido:

Se o pensan, para resolver os crebacabezas dun xeito eficaz,

In order to solve these puzzles effectively, if you think about it,

your mind needs to be in two states simultaneously, right?

as súas cabezas precisan estar simultaneamente en dous estados, non?

It needs to be alert,

Precisan estar alerta,

for which caffeine is very good.

para o que a cafeína é moi boa.

Simultaneously, it needs to be calm --

Pero ao mesmo tempo precisan estar tranquilos,

not agitated, calm --

non nerviosos, senón calmados,

for which chamomile is very good.

para o que a macela é moi boa.

Now comes the between-subjects design,

Agora vén a proba entre diversos participantes:

the AB design, the AB testing.

o test AB, a proba AB.

So what I'm going to do is randomly assign you to one of two groups.

Vounos distribuír aleatoriamente en dous grupos

Imaxinen unha liña imaxinaria por aquí

So imagine that there is an imaginary line out here,

so everyone here will be group A,

de modo que esta parte será o grupo A

everyone out here will be group B.

e esta outra será o grupo B.

Now, for you folks, what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you these two teas,

Agora a vostedes vou amosarlles estes dous tés

and I'll go ahead and ask you to choose your tea.

e preguntareilles cal deles prefiren.

So you can choose whichever tea you want.

Poden escoller o que queiran.

You can decide, what is your mental state:

Poden decidir cal é o seu estado mental,

OK, I choose the caffeinated tea,

é dicir, elixir o té con cafeína

I choose the chamomile tea.

ou elixir a macela.

So you're going to be in charge, you're going to be in control,

Así que terán o temón, o control,

you're going to be in the driver's seat.

poderán elixir o que prefiran.

You folks, I'm going to show you these two teas,

A vostedes, amigos, ensinareilles estes dous tés,

but you don't have a choice.

pero vostedes non terán elección.

I'm going to give you one of these two teas,

Vou darlles un deles,

and keep in mind, I'm going to pick one of these two teas

e recorden que escollerei un destes dous

at random for you.

aleatoriamente para vostedes.

And you know that.

E sábeno.

So if you think about it, this is an extreme-case scenario,

Así que se o pensan, esta é unha situación extrema

porque no mundo real,

because in the real world,

whenever you are taking passenger's seat,

cando un deixa a alguén tomar decisións,

very often the driver is going to be someone you trust,

normalmente esa persoa é alguén da súa confianza,

un experto, etc.

an expert, etc.

Así que esta é unha situación extrema.

So this is an extreme-case scenario.

[Grupo A: Escolle o té] [Grupo B: Danllo]

Now, you're all going to consume the tea.

Agora tomarán todos o té.

So imagine that you're taking the tea now,

Imaxinen que o están a tomar,

we'll wait for you to finish the tea.

esperaremos a que o rematen.

Deixaremos outros cinco minutos para que faga o efecto desexado.

We'll give another five minutes for the ingredient to have its effects.

Now you're going to have 30 minutes to solve 15 puzzles.

Agora terán 30 minutos para resolver 15 crebacabezas.

Here's an example of the puzzle you're going to solve.

Este é un exemplo dos que terán que facer.

Anyone in the audience want to take a stab?

Algún de vostedes quere probar?

Moza: 'Púlpito' Baba Shiv: Guau! Ben.

Audience member: Pulpit! Baba Shiv: Whoa! OK.

That's cool.

Iso estivo ben.

Yeah, so what we'd do if we had you who gave the answer

O que fariamos con vostede, que deu a resposta

as a participant,

como partícipe do estudo,

we would have calibrated the difficulty level

sería calibrar o nivel de dificultade

of the puzzles to your expertise.

dos crebacabezas con relación á súa experiencia.

Porque queremos que os crebacabezas sexan difíciles.

Because we want these puzzles to be difficult.

These are tricky puzzles,

Estes son complexos,

because your first instinct is to say "tulip."

porque o primeiro que nos vén á cabeza é dicir 'tulipán'.

And then you have to unstick yourself.

E logo hai que corrixirse, non?

Right?

Estes foron calibrados tendo en conta o seu nivel

So these have been calibrated to your level of expertise,

porque o que queremos é que sexan difíciles.

because we want this to be difficult,

Direilles por qué nuns intres.

and I'll tell you why, momentarily.

Now, here's another example.

Este é outro exemplo.

Anyone? This is much more difficult.

Alguén? Este é moito máis difícil.

Audience member: Embark. BS: Yeah. Wow! OK.

Mozo: 'Embarcar' Baba: Si, guau! Ben

So, yeah, so this is, again, difficult.

Si, este tamén é difícil.

You'll say "kamber," then you'll go, "maker," and all that,

Dirán kamber, logo maker, e todo iso,

E logo corrixiranse.

and then you can unstick yourself.

Así que agora teñen 30 minutos para resolver estes 15 crebacabezas.

So you have 30 minutes now to solve these 15 puzzles.

Agora, o que nos preguntamos é, en termos de resultados,

Now, the question we're asking here is, in terms of the outcome --

and it comes in the number of puzzles solved --

que veñen dados polo número de crebacabezas resoltos,

will you in the driver's seat end up solving more puzzles

é se os que tomaron a decisión do té acabarán resolvendo máis

because you are in control,

porque son os que teñen o control,

you could decide which tea you would choose,

ou se serán vostedes os que o fagan.

or would you be better off,

in terms of the number of puzzles solved?

And, systemically, what we will show,

Sistematicamente, o que demostraremos con varios estudos

across a series of studies,

é que os que se deixaron levar,

is that you, the passengers,

even though the tea was picked for you at random,

aínda tendo en conta que o té se escollera ao azar,

will end up solving more puzzles than you, the drivers.

resolverán máis crebacabezas ca os que o elixiron.

We also observe another thing,

Tamén puidemos observar outra cousa

and that is, you folks not only are solving fewer puzzles,

e é que vostedes, amigos, non só resolveron un número menor,

you're also putting less juice into the task -- less effort,

senón que lle puxeron menos intención, menor esforzo, foron menos persistentes...

you're less persistent, and so on.

Como o sabemos?

How do we know that?

Temos dúas formas obxectivas de medida.

Well, we have two objective measures.

One is, what is the time, on average, you're taking

Unha é: Canto tempo de media se emprega intentando resolvelos?

in attempting to solve these puzzles?

You will spend less time compared to you.

Vostedes empregarán menos comparados con vostedes.

Outra é que vostedes teñen 30 minutos para resolvelos todos pero:

Second, you have 30 minutes to solve these;

are you taking the entire 30 minutes

Empregan os 30 minutos ou paran antes de que se acabe o tempo?

or are you giving up before the 30 minutes elapse?

Vostedes teñen máis probabilidades de abandonar antes de que acabe o tempo

You will be more likely to give up before the 30 minutes elapse,

en comparación con vostedes.

compared to you.

So you're putting in less juice,

Así que están dando menos de si,

polo que o resultado é unha menor cantidade de enigmas resoltos.

and therefore, the outcome: fewer puzzles solved.

That brings us now to: why does this happen?

Isto lévanos a pensar: Por que pasa isto?

E baixo que circunstancias, ou cando, se producirán estes patróns de resultados

And under what situations -- when -- would we see this pattern of results

where the passenger is going to show better, more favorable outcomes,

nos que os que se deixan levar obteñen mellores datos

compared to the driver?

en comparación cos que non?

Todo está relacionado co enfrontamento ao que eu chamo o INCA,

It all has to do with when you face what I call the INCA.

It's an acronym that stands for the nature of the feedback you're getting

que é o acrónimo para a natureza da retroalimentación que se obtén

after you made the decision.

unha vez que se toma unha decisión.

So if you think about it, in this particular puzzle task --

Así que se o pensan, neste estudo en concreto,

pero podería ser investindo na bolsa,

it could happen in investing in the stock market,

que é moi volátil,

very volatile out there,

it could be the medical situation --

ou nunha situación médica,

a retroalimentación aquí é inmediata.

the feedback here is immediate.

You know the feedback, whether you're solving the puzzles or not.

Saben a repercusión, se resolven ou non os enigmas.

Right? Second, it is negative.

Por outra banda, é negativo.

Remember, the deck was stacked against you,

Lembren que as cartas estaban na súa contra

in terms of the difficulty level of these puzzles.

no tocante á dificultade dos crebacabezas.

And this can happen in the medical domain.

Isto mesmo pode ocorrer no campo da medicina.

For example, very early on in the treatment,

Por exemplo, nas primeiras etapas do tratamento

things are negative, the feedback, before things become positive.

as cousas van mal, antes de chegar a ir ben.

Right? It can happen in the stock market.

Pódelle ocorrer ao mercado de valores.

Un mercado volátil con resultados negativos tamén é inmediato.

Volatile stock market, getting negative feedback, it is also immediate.

And the feedback in all these cases is concrete, it's unambiguous;

E a retroalimentación nestes casos é concreta, inequívoca,

you know if you've solved the puzzles or not.

saben se resolveron os crebacabezas ou non.

Now, the added one,

Ademais, á parte do resultado inmediato, negativo e concreto,

apart from this immediacy, negative, this concreteness --

now you have a sense of agency.

teñen conciencia de control.

You were responsible for your decision.

Eran responsables da súa decisión.

So what do you do?

Así que que fan?

You focus on the foregone option.

Céntranse na opción que non elixiron.

You say, you know what?

Pensan: Sabes? Debín escoller o outro té.

I should have chosen the other tea.

(Risas)

(Laughter)

That casts your decision in doubt,

Isto fai que poñan en dúbida a súa decisión,

reduces the confidence you have in the decision,

que non confíen nela,

the confidence you have in the performance,

nin no seu rendemento,

no rendemento en relación a resolver crebacabezas.

the performance in terms of solving the puzzles.

And therefore less juice into the task,

Por iso, esfórzanse menos na tarefa,

fewer puzzles solved

resolven menos enigmas

and less favorable outcomes compared to you folks.

e obteñen peores resultados en comparación cos seus compañeiros.

And this can happen in the medical domain, if you think about it, right?

E isto pode ocorrer no ámbito médico.

O paciente é o que decide, por exemplo.

A patient in the driver's seat, for example.

Menos esforzo, o que significa manterse

Less juice, which means keeping herself or himself

less physically fit, physically active to hasten the recovery process,

menos en forma, menos activo como para acelerar o proceso de recuperación,

que é o que se recomenda normalmente.

which is what is often advocated.

You probably wouldn't do that.

Probablemente non o farían.

And therefore, there are times when you're facing the INCA,

Polo tanto, ás veces, cando se enfrontan ao INCA,

when the feedback is going to be immediate, negative, concrete

cando o resultado vai ser inmediato, negativo, concreto

and you have the sense of agency,

e teñen conciencia de control,

where you're far better off taking the passenger's seat

onde están mellor é a un lado, deixándose guiar por outra persoa.

and have someone else drive.

Now, I started off on a somber note.

Comecei cun momento triste.

I want to finish up on a more upbeat note.

Quero rematar cun máis alegre.

Pasaron xa cinco anos, algo máis de cinco anos,

It has now been five years, slightly more than five years,

and the good news, thank God, is that the cancer is still in remission.

e a boa nova, grazas a Deus, é que o cancro segue remitindo.

So it all ends well.

Así que todo acaba ben.

But one thing I didn't mention was that very early on into her treatment,

Unha cousa que non mencionei foi que dende o principio do seu tratamento,

my wife and I decided that we would take the passenger's seat.

a miña muller e mais eu decidimos deixarnos levar.

And that made so much of a difference

E iso marcou moito a diferenza

in terms of the peace of mind that came with that;

en termos da tranquilidade que nos fixo sentir.

we could focus on her recovery.

Puidemos centrarnos na súa recuperación.

Deixamos que fosen os médicos os que tomasen as decisións

We let the doctors make all the decisions

and take the driver's seat.

e cedémoslles o mando.

Grazas.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)