0:00:00.611,0:00:03.388
I'm going to start[br]on a slightly somber note.

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Two thousand and seven, five years ago,

0:00:07.447,0:00:10.468
my wife gets diagnosed with breast cancer.

0:00:11.150,0:00:12.342
Stage IIB.

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Now, looking back, the most[br]harrowing part of that experience

0:00:17.119,0:00:18.926
was not just the hospital visits --

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these were very painful[br]for my wife, understandably so.

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

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at just 39 years old,

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absolutely no history[br]of cancer in her family.

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The most horrifying and agonizing part[br]of the whole experience

0:00:34.424,0:00:38.191
was we were making decisions[br]after decisions after decisions

0:00:38.215,0:00:39.810
that were being thrust upon us.

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Should it be a mastectomy?[br]Should it be a lumpectomy?

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Should it be a more[br]aggressive form of treatment,

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given that it was stage IIB?

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With all the side effects?

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Or should it be a less[br]aggressive form of treatment?

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And these were being thrust[br]upon us by the doctors.

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Now you could ask this question,

0:00:58.046,0:00:59.584
why were the doctors doing this?

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A simplistic answer would be,

0:01:01.091,0:01:02.348
the doctors are doing this

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because they want to protect[br]themselves legally.

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I think that is too simplistic.

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These are well-meaning doctors,

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

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They probably were simply[br]following the wisdom

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that has come down through the ages,

0:01:15.753,0:01:17.868
this adage that when[br]you're making decisions,

0:01:17.892,0:01:19.574
especially decisions of importance,

0:01:19.598,0:01:22.141
it's best to be in charge,[br]it's best to be in control,

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

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And we were certainly[br]in the driver's seat,

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making all these decisions.

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

0:01:31.193,0:01:33.614
it was a most agonizing[br]and harrowing experience.

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Which got me thinking.

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I said, is there any validity[br]to this whole adage

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that when you're making decisions,

0:01:41.252,0:01:43.349
it's best to take the driver's seat,

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be in charge, be in control?

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Or are there contexts[br]where we're far better off

0:01:48.591,0:01:50.073
taking the passenger's seat

0:01:50.097,0:01:51.447
and have someone else drive?

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For example, a trusted financial advisor,

0:01:53.477,0:01:55.089
could be a trusted doctor, etc.

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And since I study human decision making,

0:01:58.840,0:02:01.293
I said, I'm going to run some studies

0:02:01.317,0:02:02.773
to find some answers.

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

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

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

0:02:13.403,0:02:15.409
you're going to drink a cup of tea.

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

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You are going to solve[br]a series of puzzles,

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

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And the more puzzles you solve,

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the greater the chances[br]that you'll win some prizes.

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Now, why do you have to consume the tea?

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Why? Because it makes a lot of sense:

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

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

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It needs to be alert,

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for which caffeine is very good.

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Simultaneously, it needs to be calm --

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not agitated, calm --

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for which chamomile is very good.

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Now comes the between-subjects design,

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the AB design, the AB testing.

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

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So imagine that there is[br]an imaginary line out here,

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so everyone here will be group A,

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everyone out here will be group B.

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

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

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So you can choose whichever tea you want.

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You can decide, what is your mental state:

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OK, I choose the caffeinated tea,

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I choose the chamomile tea.

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So you're going to be in charge,[br]you're going to be in control,

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

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

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but you don't have a choice.

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

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

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at random for you.

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And you know that.

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

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because in the real world,

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whenever you are taking passenger's seat,

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

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an expert, etc.

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So this is an extreme-case scenario.

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

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So imagine that you're taking the tea now,

0:04:06.083,0:04:07.863
we'll wait for you to finish the tea.

0:04:07.887,0:04:11.743
We'll give another five minutes[br]for the ingredient to have its effects.

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

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

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Anyone in the audience[br]want to take a stab?

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Audience member: Pulpit![br]Baba Shiv: Whoa! OK.

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That's cool.

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

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as a participant,

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we would have calibrated[br]the difficulty level

0:04:32.634,0:04:34.717
of the puzzles to your expertise.

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Because we want[br]these puzzles to be difficult.

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These are tricky puzzles,

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because your first instinct[br]is to say "tulip."

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And then you have to unstick yourself.

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Right?

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So these have been calibrated[br]to your level of expertise,

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because we want this to be difficult,

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and I'll tell you why, momentarily.

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Now, here's another example.

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Anyone? This is much more difficult.

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Audience member: Embark.[br]BS: Yeah. Wow! OK.

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

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

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and then you can unstick yourself.

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

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

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and it comes in the number[br]of puzzles solved --

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

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because you are in control,

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you could decide which tea[br]you would choose,

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or would you be better off,

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in terms of the number of puzzles solved?

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And, systemically, what we will show,

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across a series of studies,

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is that you, the passengers,

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even though the tea[br]was picked for you at random,

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

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We also observe another thing,

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

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

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you're less persistent, and so on.

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How do we know that?

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Well, we have two objective measures.

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

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in attempting to solve these puzzles?

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You will spend less time compared to you.

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Second, you have[br]30 minutes to solve these;

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are you taking the entire 30 minutes

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or are you giving up[br]before the 30 minutes elapse?

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

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compared to you.

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So you're putting in less juice,

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and therefore, the outcome:[br]fewer puzzles solved.

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That brings us now to:[br]why does this happen?

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

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

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compared to the driver?

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

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

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after you made the decision.

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

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it could happen in investing[br]in the stock market,

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very volatile out there,

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it could be the medical situation --

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the feedback here is immediate.

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

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Right? Second, it is negative.

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Remember, the deck[br]was stacked against you,

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in terms of the difficulty[br]level of these puzzles.

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And this can happen in the medical domain.

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For example, very early on[br]in the treatment,

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things are negative, the feedback,[br]before things become positive.

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Right? It can happen in the stock market.

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

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

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you know if you've solved[br]the puzzles or not.

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Now, the added one,

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apart from this immediacy,[br]negative, this concreteness --

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now you have a sense of agency.

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You were responsible for your decision.

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So what do you do?

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You focus on the foregone option.

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You say, you know what?

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I should have chosen the other tea.

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(Laughter)

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That casts your decision in doubt,

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reduces the confidence[br]you have in the decision,

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the confidence you have[br]in the performance,

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the performance in terms[br]of solving the puzzles.

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And therefore less juice into the task,

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fewer puzzles solved

0:08:07.060,0:08:09.715
and less favorable outcomes[br]compared to you folks.

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

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

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Less juice, which means[br]keeping herself or himself

0:08:18.277,0:08:21.801
less physically fit, physically active[br]to hasten the recovery process,

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which is what is often advocated.

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You probably wouldn't do that.

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

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when the feedback is going[br]to be immediate, negative, concrete

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and you have the sense of agency,

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

0:08:40.620,0:08:42.350
and have someone else drive.

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Now, I started off on a somber note.

0:08:46.828,0:08:48.867
I want to finish up on a more upbeat note.

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It has now been five years,[br]slightly more than five years,

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

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So it all ends well.

0:09:00.970,0:09:07.135
But one thing I didn't mention[br]was that very early on into her treatment,

0:09:07.159,0:09:10.587
my wife and I decided[br]that we would take the passenger's seat.

0:09:11.071,0:09:13.066
And that made so much of a difference

0:09:13.090,0:09:15.865
in terms of the peace of mind[br]that came with that;

0:09:15.889,0:09:17.751
we could focus on her recovery.

0:09:17.775,0:09:20.706
We let the doctors make all the decisions

0:09:20.730,0:09:22.238
and take the driver's seat.

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Thank you.

0:09:24.112,0:09:28.118
(Applause)