The Ball in the Box Game

In my last posting I stated that motivation is at the highest level with tasks of a moderate risk, neither too high, nor too low. In this posting I will tell you about a game I call the ball in the box game, a game I do in my workshops. My game is based upon a game used by a researcher in motivation, Richard DeCharms. Each player when it is his turn is given eight balls. They are told that the first four balls are practice and the second four count. The goal of the game is to get two of the final four balls into a box I have placed about twenty feet away. The player is instructed that he is to use the four practice balls to determine the distance away from the box that he wishes to use for his four final balls. He gets to choose the distance for his final four balls. He can try different distances during the practice balls, but once he chooses a distance for the four final balls he cannot change his mind.

DeCharms’s research showed there are three possible choices, 1) very close so the player cannot miss, 2) far enough away that he is unlikely to get any balls in the box, and 3) somewhere in between 1) and 2) so as to make getting two of the balls into the box challenging, but possible.

Psychological testing of the participants by DeCharms showed that the people who chose 1), very close to the box, fear failure. They fear failure so much that they are afraid to take any risk. They succeed, but at what? At nothing. By taking the path of least resistance, they guarantee they won’t fail, but they also guarantee they won’t ever accomplish anything worth while.

People who chose 2), very far away from the box, his research showed, fear the appearance of failure. They stand so far away that even if they miss, they haven’t really failed, because what they were doing was impossible. By doing this they avoid responsibility when they fail.

People who chose 3), a moderate distance from the box, far enough to make it challenging, are what DeCharms called the reasoned risk takers. Research shows that this is the way a person who is successful in their life plays the ball in the box game. A successful person in his life sets the bar high enough so he will have to work to achieve success, but low enough so that success is possible. Once he succeeds, he sets the bar just a bit higher.

This is how we set the level of risk in the goals and tasks we establish so that we keep our motivation high. By keeping our motivation high, we will continue to move forward toward manifesting our vision.