Related Experiment Videos
Do your commitments match your convictions?
Donald N Sull1, Dominic Houlder
1London Business School. dsull@london.edu
Harvard Business Review
|February 9, 2005
Summary
Many people feel a disconnect between their values and daily actions, leading to decreased satisfaction. This study offers a framework to bridge this gap by analyzing personal commitments and resource allocation.
Area of Science:
- Business Strategy
- Organizational Behavior
- Personal Development
Background:
- Many individuals experience a decline in work and life satisfaction despite fulfilling obligations.
- A common barrier to addressing this is the feeling of being "too busy" to reassess daily actions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the reasons behind the gap between personal values and resource allocation (time, money, attention).
- To propose a practical framework for managing this gap by analyzing personal commitments.
Main Methods:
- The study draws parallels between organizational commitments and personal commitments.
- A framework is proposed to help individuals inventory their values and current resource allocation.
- This involves assigning percentages of salary, weekly hours, and energy to core values.
Main Results:
- The exercise helps identify significant discrepancies between stated values and actual resource allocation.
- It highlights values that receive insufficient resources or values that consume a disproportionate amount of resources.
Conclusions:
- Individuals can use this framework to gain a clearer understanding of their resource allocation.
- By identifying and addressing the gaps, individuals can better align their daily actions with their core convictions and improve overall satisfaction.