Whatever your project, it can fail. No matter how many details you consider and anticipate, there can always be loose ends that can wreck your plan. It’s sad, but true. That project you worked on for so long could fail. That plan you prepared with such enthusiasm could go overboard. Success and failure go hand in hand. To cover your shoulders, a sensible idea is to create a plan B.
Having an alternative plan is like building a safety net. Knowing that you have a second option if the first one fails is emotionally comforting and helps you fight the fear of failure, the unknown, and uncertainty. However, while having a plan B is important, it also has a dangerous “side effect”: it increases the chances that your plan A will fail.
The curious relationship between plan A and plan B
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Pennsylvania have launched a series of very interesting experiments on how people deal with plan A and plan B.
In one of the experiments, they asked hundreds of participants to decipher scrambled sentences in a given period of time. Rewards for success varied, but included a free snack or a lump sum payment.
Interestingly, the researchers asked some people to come up with a plan B. For example, if the reward for task success was a free snack, they asked them to think of other ways to get free food on campus.
They thus found that the participants who designed alternative plans deciphered fewer sentences. In other words, they got worse scores on the test. This indicates that the simple act of devising other strategies to obtain the reward affected their performance.
In a second moment, the questionnaires administered to the participants showed that this drop in performance was not because those who had a plan B had been distracted, but because they felt less motivated.
The researchers concluded that “While having a plan B has well-known benefits, such as reducing anxiety about the future, it also has costs that need to be carefully weighed.” They also warned that this “adverse effect” can be amplified when plan A requires more effort.
Having an alternative plan undermines motivation
In 1519, when Hernán Cortés invaded Mexico, he made the decision to scuttle 11 of his ships. He did not destroy them, as legend tells it, but he sent a clear message to his men: turning back was such a remote possibility that they should not consider it.
Basically, what happens is that having a plan B saps motivation. In fact, it cannot be forgotten that the fear of failure or even the discomfort experienced outside the comfort zone are powerful incentives for effort and often lead to success.
Having a plan B, especially if the goal you have set for yourself is very ambitious and requires great effort and perseverance, can make you throw in the towel sooner to return to your comfort zone where you can keep fear and anxiety under control.
Of course, dealing with a pun is not the same as dealing with a major life project, but these experiments warn that reducing the fear and anxiety inherent to major projects resorting to an alternative plan could also decrease motivation.
Having a plan B or not, that is the question
First, it is important to note that these results apply primarily to goals whose success is highly dependent on effort. Therefore, alternative plans continue to be a perfectly valid option for those goals in which chance comes into play.
Secondly, it is not always necessary to carry out a plan B together with plan A. There is the possibility of drawing up the alternative plan when you begin to realize that the main plan is failing or you have already done everything possible and the final result does not work. it depends solely on you. In that case, having a plan B may be the smartest option.
Third, plan B does not always have to imply a change of objective, it does not necessarily mean resigning, but it can be another way to reach that goal. That is, your alternative plan may consist of designing another path, perhaps longer, to get to the point you want.
In any case, it is important that you analyze if your problem in reaching a goal is the anxiety that it generates in you due to the uncertainty that it entails or the lack of motivation. If the fear and anxiety are too great, they can become paralyzing, so having a plan B could help you achieve your goal while maintaining optimal performance. On the other hand, if the problem is motivation, it might be better not to design an alternative plan since it is more likely you throw away the towel.
Source:
Shin, J. & Milkman, K. L. (2016) How backup plans can harm goal pursuit: The unexpected downside of being prepared for failure. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; 135: 1-9.
