What Makes Open Loops So Powerful?

As leaders, we're always battling for people's attention.

You opened this email even though I told you not to. Why? Well, you couldn't help but open it. 😉

It's a noisy world out there. How do we cut through the noise to build support for the things that matter most?

Open loops are powerful.

Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik coined the term in the 1920s before David Allen made it famous in his bestselling book Getting Things Done.

The idea is simple. We're more likely to remember incomplete things than complete things.

They're the reason stories hook us in. We hear "Back in 1997..." and our brain has to know more.

It's why my kids love duplo and play with it every day. The toy has multiple possibilities and is never finished. It creates an open loop. They're fascinated with continuing to find a new solution.

Okay. So open loops are powerful. So what? And how can we use them as leaders?

Questions are the simplest form of open loop

Let me ask you something:

What does a lemon taste like?

...

After reading that question, I'm wondering if:

• you noticed more saliva in your mouth
• after a second or two, you felt the urge to swallow
• perhaps you even tasted a slight sourness or bitterness in your mouth?

Questions are powerful because they create an open loop that your brain wants to solve.

When we ask a powerful question, we focus a person's brain on finding the answer to that problem.

When we lead with an ask, it asks other people to take the lead. And that's exactly what we need in today's complex and ever-changing world.