HIGHLIGHTS

• “People tend to execute better in certain tasks when they feel observed by others rather than when they are alone”
• “Solitude, like company, is a double-edged sword, where it can have a motivating effect or weaken capacity to concentrate on a task”

Humans are social beings who are designed to live and work in communities. Although no one doubts the value, often extraordinary, of individual contributions, the most successful, ambitious and consistent projects are usually those that combine the talent of various people around a common goal. There are different ways of articulating this collaboration. A company, department, team, association or multilateral project are different manifestations of this aligning of talent. Put simply, collaborative work is more efficient, has greater reach and permits those who practice it to achieve more in less time.

What will I learn from this article?

• The power of collaboration
• Antidote to distractions
• Confidence in being accompanied
• The opinion of another

The surprising thing about the power of collaboration is that it functions as a lever for productivity, including between people who are not collaborating. According to this doctrine, known as body doubling, it is enough for two individuals to share the same physical space to improve their output. They don’t need to be work colleagues or share themes or projects. It can consist of two professionals in disciplines that are completely different. By way of example, an accountant and a graphic designer, working for different entities even. But, what is the mechanism behind this marvelous effect? The origins of body doubling appear to go back to the end of the 19^th C., when the North American psychologist Norman Triplett introduced the theory of social facilitation after observing the behavior of cyclists who rode alone, comparing them with how they behaved when accompanied by other cyclists.

According to the theory, people tend to execute better in certain tasks when they feel observed by others, rather than when they are alone. In the 20^th C., authors such as Robert Zajonic and Robert Baron consolidated this concept. The first established its dual nature, suggesting that the presence of others effectively acted as a stimulus for the execution of simple tasks, but could also be counterproductive when the difficulty of these actions increased. For his part, Baron introduced cognitive variables to the phenomenon, such as attention and distraction. According to him, the effectiveness in the execution of a task depends on the number of distractions present during its realization.

What else other than body doubling could describe the work of monks copying together in the scriptorium of a medieval monastery? Or the communal farmwork in Israeli kibbutzim? Or the tradition adopted by university students, and candidates of every era and place, to head to the library to study individually, but surrounded by colleagues with the same attitude, when they could be doing so comfortably at home, away from distractions? Today, we can find the clearest example of this phenomenon in coworking spaces, where the presence nearby of other business professionals acts as a kind of magnet that fixes co-workers in their seats, occupying themselves with exemplary dedication and high concentration to their respective subjects, without interference from the others, except perhaps when taking the occasional coffee in common areas.

Body doubling goes on to transcend these spontaneous approximations, and social facilitation itself (which happens quite naturally), by implementing, consciously and deliberately, the thesis that having company is, in itself, the magic potion for increasing productivity. This “alongside but separate” approach to work generates a certain security, or confidence, that a group always brings. It is an effective antidote against the feeling of isolation that often accompanies professionals who have a solitary, individual job, such as writers, programmers and many artists.

Solitude, like company, is a double-edged sword, where it can have a motivating effect or weaken capacity to concentrate on a task. The phenomenon is particularly indicated for combating procrastination. When people have to deal with a task, especially if we sense that it is going to be laborious and complex, we tend to delay the start. Not because we are lazy or unwilling, or lacking the necessary talent or discipline, but due to something called emotional self-regulation. In its wish to bring about stability, our brain always seeks short-term compensations, and the beginning of a demanding task is at odds with the objective. Avoiding the task, which can produce anxiety from fear of failure, offers temporary relief which, however, ends up creating a sense of guilt and greater pressure that leads us to continue procrastinating in a vicious circle that is difficult to resolve.

The presence of “the other” can help us to emerge from the procrastination trap. We do so mainly because of a sociological and psychosocial phenomenon which all of us are reluctant to admit in public, but which has an enormous weight in our decision-making and conduct. We do it because of the  “what will they say?” phenomenon, the opinions around us, especially if they come from people who exercise certain influence over us, which affects us much more than we care to admit. For this reason, perhaps we are predisposed to allow ourselves to be sidetracked by 1,001 distractions in the intimate anonymity of our home or workplace. It would probably cost us much more if we indulged in this behavior and exposed our laziness in the presence of witnesses. 

The effect of company will be all the more powerful if it is exemplary, i.e. if the “other”, whatever they are working on, shows higher levels of commitment, dedication and concentration than we do, and whose attitude serves as an inspiration and model to follow. This can produce a unique mirror effect, in which both professionals motivate each other without knowing for sure who began the process. Without knowing who got going first, thanks to the other.