The Daily Stat: Why You Should Emphasize Your Potential Rather Than Your Achievement on Your CV

Are you having trouble viewing this email? If so, click here to see it in a web browser. HOME   |   BLOGS   |   THE MAGAZINE   |   BOOKS   |   AUTHORS   |   STORE RSS   |   Mobile JANUARY 23, 2013 Why You Should Emphasize Your Potential Rather Than Your Achievement on Your CV In an experiment, people were more impressed with a résumé showing a given level of future potential than one showing actual achievement of that performance level, say Zakary L. Tormala and Jayson S. Jia of Stanford and Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School. Moreover, research participants declared that a rookie basketball player with a given set of projected performance stats would deserve a salary of $5.25 million after five years as a professional, but a five-year pro who had actually achieved such stats would deserve just $4.26 million. People find high potential more appealing and intriguing than equally high achievement, the researchers say. Source: The Preference for Potential Share Today's Stat: FEATURED PRODUCT Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business Ebook Now Available Whole Foods Market Co-Founder John Mackey and Bentley professor Raj Sisodia argue for the inherent good of both business and capitalism, and use some of today's best known companies to illustrate how these two forces work most powerfully to create value for all stakeholders from customers and employees to investors and the environment. Learn how these "Conscious Capitalism" companies including Whole Foods Market, Southwest Airlines, Google, Patagonia and The Container Store use four specific tenets – higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership and conscious culture and management – to build strong businesses and help advance capitalism further towards realizing its highest potential. ADVERTISEMENT Follow the Stat: BEST SELLERS HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials HBR's 10 Must Reads Boxed Set HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations HBR Guide to Better Business Writing HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done PREVIOUS STATS A Fishy Smell Makes People More Suspicious Social Exclusion Makes People Value Money More Airlines Discount Tickets That Are Bought on Weekends Telecommuters Are More Productive on Creative Tasks, Less on Dull Ones Fertility Rates Decline in Europe as Economy Lags Do You Think of Time as Proceeding Left to Right or Right to Left? Big Rise in MBAs Makes the Degree Less Exclusive Many Russian Doctoral Students Purchase Their Dissertations For Sales Jobs, Your Résumé Should Tout Your Math Skills Salaries Rise After CEO's Wife Has First-Born Daughter Introducing Mobile ManageMentor Powered by the proven content of Harvard ManageMentor™ iTunes >> Android >> UNSUBSCRIBE   |   UPDATE YOUR PROFILE   |   MORE EMAIL NEWSLETTERS   |   PRIVACY POLICY Was this email forwarded to you? If so, sign up to start receiving your own copy. ABOUT THIS MAILING LIST You have received this message because you subscribed to the "The Daily Stat" email newsletter from Harvard Business Review. If at any point you wish to remove yourself from this list, change your email address, or sign up for other email newsletters and alerts, please visit the Harvard Business Review Email Newsletter Preference Center. OPT OUT If you do not wish to receive any email messages from Harvard Business Review, click here. ADVERTISE WITH HBR This enewsletter is read by thousands of decision makers every day. Learn more about connecting your brand with this audience. Copyright © 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing | 60 Harvard Way | Boston, MA 02163 Customer Service: 800-545-7685 (+1-617-783-7600 outside the U.S. and Canada)