The story goes that Bluma Zeigarnik was sitting in a cafe in Vienna (as all good psychologists do) and noticed that the waiters were able to remember long and complicated orders up to the point where the orders were delivered to the table and placed in front of the correct patron. After this point the order was completely forgotten. This simple observation triggered a series of experiments where Bluma found that if something is left incomplete it creates a psychic tension which makes a person more mindful and open to learning. It’s now called the Zeigarnik Effect. Or perhaps more simply, suspense.

I heard a story-based example of the Zeigarnik effect this week. A presenter started their talk with a story and stopped just as it was getting interesting, creating psychic tension and probably some considerable annoyance. He then proceeded with the rest of his talk and completed the story at the end of the presentation. People were on the edge of their seats throughout I’m told. I’ve gotta give this a go.

This effect reminds me that you can use this desire for completion in other ways:

If you want to come up with a list of ideas write, “There are five things to consider:” and jot down 5 dots points (just the dots) and you will be surprised how easy it is to come up with the 5 ideas.

Thanks to Jay Cross for introducing me to this phenomenon.