Plans with a when and a where actually happen
"We should do something" almost never turns into something. Research on if-then planning shows why a time and a place change the odds.
There's a big difference between "we should go to the beach sometime" and "beach, Saturday, 10:00, meet at the Muizenberg huts". The first is a nice idea. The second is a plan. Psychology has a name for the difference, and decades of research on it.
Implementation intentions
In the 1990s, psychologist Peter Gollwitzer started studying what he called implementation intentions. A goal intention is "I want to do X". An implementation intention adds when, where and how: "When it's Saturday at 10:00, I'll go to the huts and meet everyone."
The "if-then" format links a specific situation (the cue) to a specific action. When the cue comes up, you don't have to decide again. The decision is already made.
How well does it work?
In 2006, Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran pulled together the research so far: 94 independent tests involving more than 8,000 participants, covering everything from health habits to studying to how people behave with each other.
Across those studies, forming an implementation intention had an average effect on actually reaching the goal of d = 0.65. In plain terms, that's a medium-to-large effect, which is unusual for something as simple as writing down when and where you'll do a thing. The plans helped people get started, stay on track when distracted, and drop things that weren't working.
The research is mostly about individual goals, not group plans, so we won't overclaim. But the core idea carries over well. A plan with a time and a place gives everyone the same cue. It's much easier for a group to show up to "Saturday 10:00 at the huts" than to "sometime this weekend, let's see".
Turning "sometime" into a plan
- Name the time. Not "the weekend", but "Saturday 10:00". If you're not sure, offer two times and let people vote.
- Name the place. An actual address or venue, not "somewhere central".
- Name what happens if. "If it rains, we move to the coffee place across the road." That's an if-then plan in its simplest form.
- Set a deadline for deciding. "Vote by Thursday" stops the plan sitting open forever.
This is why every Quorum plan asks for a time and a place up front, lets you offer a few time options when people can't agree, and supports a vote deadline. Once enough people say yes, everyone has the same when and where. Then you just have to show up.
Sources
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
- Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.