We just came back from a great holiday, but all we talked about was the horrendous journey home. Why did we tell everyone about this?
And why am I sharing this??
Because it's a prime example of the power of endings. In life and in our work, how we wrap things up can make all the difference.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต โ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ?
Some experiences can be wonderful, but if they end poorly, thatโs often what we recall (and talk about) the most.
Whether it's a workout, a sporting event, or a project at work, the way it concludes leaves a lasting impression.
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐
Our brains have a funny way of prioritizing endings, often overshadowing everything that came before. It's partly due to what psychologists call the 'peak-end rule', where people judge an experience largely based on how they felt at its peak and its end, rather than based on the total sum or average of every moment of the experience.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ โ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒโ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ '๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด'
Another trick with our brains is what Danny Kahneman called an โexperiencing selfโ, and a โremembering selfโโฆ the experiencing self is that part of us that lives in the moment, and the remembering self is the part of us that looks back and reflects on what we have experienced.
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
So in any case when you're designing experiences โ whether it's an event, a session, or a program โ don't overlook the ending.
End on a high note, and watch how it impacts the perception, recall and reputation of what you provide.
The good news is that even if the experience hasnโt been great if you set up a good endingโฆ that can be a good result.
Like when we went to a tournament on our trip, the organisation was pretty average throughout the day, but it all ended with a great result, which had us walking away with positive reflections on the overall experience.
๐ฃ๐น๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ!
We should always put a next step in front of people, especially if you know the end may not be a good one. That final result is not in our control in sport, so perhaps you can create an alternate ending โ ideally a personalised follow-up - but there are many final moments you can create that will leave your people feeling good.
I think itโs worth spending some time on the endings, and remembering how we remember because, in the grand scheme of things, it's not just about how you start, or the journey, but how you finish.
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