Thinking Cap or Capped Thinking? | Vol. 97

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”

— Khalil Gibran

Thinking Cap or Capped Thinking?

In 1997 a team of researchers hit the streets of Manhattan to prove the importance of thinking big.* They explored the age-old question of why you can never seem to find a taxi in the rain. Most people blamed demand. They believed there were too many umbrella-wielding New Yorkers flagging cabs. Demand is partially to blame but isn’t the root cause. As the day goes on there are fewer and fewer taxis on the streets. The case of the missing cabbies isn’t just a supply issue. It’s also a mindset one.

Cab drivers tend to set a daily goal of earning double the money required to rent their taxi. Once they hit that mark, they end the day early. Every hour there are fewer taxis as the drivers hit their quota faster and go home. The driver-to-rider ratio gets worse. It’s a vicious cycle where the drivers lose out and the riders get soaked. The cabbies’ capped thinking leaves others standing in the cold. Mother Nature providing buckets of riders becomes a lost opportunity for them. Imagine what their earnings could be if they only opened up their horizons – and their meters.

For taxi drivers, success comes in showers. But, all clouds can have silver linings.  Ultimately, whether the weather is fair or foul, our mindset determines how we fare.

One question to ponder in your thinking time: Do I look for opportunity in inclement times?

Make an Impact!

Jay Papasan

Co-author of The One Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent ​

*Babcock, Camerer, Loewenstein, and Thaler. “Labor Supply of New York City Cab Drivers: One Day at a Time.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics. May 1996.