The Daily Stat from Harvard Business Review

 

February 4, 2015 Your Predecessor's Success Makes You More Likely to Fail If you're competing in the U.S. National Spelling Bee and the preceding contestant spells correctly, you're at least 13% more likely to make a mistake than if your predecessor made an error, says Jonathan Smith of The College Board. The reason for the effect is unclear, Smith says; it may be that a contestant's error-free performance increases the psychological pressure on the next. SOURCE: Peers, Pressure, and Performance at the National Spelling Bee

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