I think I fell out of my seat when I read it in 2018.
For the better part of 30 years, the prevailing wisdom in the basketball world, based on statistical research, was that the hot hand was a myth. A statistical anomaly. The hot hand, of course, is when a player makes a bunch of shots in a row. In the video games of my youth, the announcer would say “he’s on fire!”
If you were like me, someone that felt like you had experienced that “fire”, you were torn between the prevailing statistics-based wisdom and your experience. In 2018, that cognitive dissonance evaporated when I read new research identifying critical flaws in the original research. The hot hand is real! This isn’t just about basketball. It’s a nod to momentum.
Yes, the hot hand has been studied for decades in the context of basketball, but other research has shown that it is not limited to sports. It’s found in careers too. Analyzing data of academic researchers, artists, and film directors shows that there’s momentum in success. Success clusters together. For instance, out of the thousands of works created by Van Gogh, 7 of his most well-known paintings were created in the same year. So, what drives the proverbial career hot hand?
Unfortunately, if you read the research, the jury is still out on that question. Luckily, we still have an actionable recommendation on how to create some momentum.
Last week, one of our beloved Slack Community members described Storied’s writing tool like this; “BRAVO, y'all, that was more than a tool, it was an experience!” Experience is the key word. When you speak out loud, your body gets in sync, your mind gets focused and you get in a confident mood. One idea tends to connect to the next. Combining that state with Storied’s AI-generated questions accelerates you toward meaningful written output.
If you haven’t tried this prototype yet, it’s a good week to build some momentum.