Life Hack #2 Never yell “Someone call 9-11”

There was an old case study in which a woman was being mugged, over twenty people witnessed the assault and no one tried to help. Not a single person even called the police! Headlines emerged throughout the country about how impersonal our society has become, how we do not help our fellow man. But the real problem was something much simpler.

There is a social psychological phenomenon that we now call “The Bystander Effect.” In short, it states that the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.

The more people that have the ability to help leads to a less likelihood of someone actually taking the responsibility of helping. This not only explains why no one tried to stop the mugging, but also why someone is less likely to help you move when you send out a mass email – another thing you should never do.

However, there is a simple hack to get around this, I call it “The never yell for someone to call 9-11 rule!”

I learned this in a book on survival, one of the first things that it teach is to never yell “Call 9-11!! Someone get help!!!” It is rare for anyone to actually take the initiative to do so, as they will just tell themselves “I’m sure someone else will handle it.”
What you need to do, is look to you audience, single out one person and say “I need you to call 9-11.” Or better yet “What’s your name?” “Sandy.” “Sandy, I need you to go call 9-11 now! Then find a life guard!” Make it personal.

See people aren’t lazy, but they will look for an excuse to be lazy. If you give an individual a direct order, they will more often then not carry it out. This rule applies to anything you need help with. Always single people out. Don’t send out a mass email, send a personal email to each friend telling them you need their help. In a work environment, don’t yell out commands to your team, single people out, giving each one a task and a time to report back.

People like to be given responsibility, it makes them feel important. But if you act like anyone could do the job, they will skirt their duties.