What If 10% of People Did What You're Doing?

Are you doing something annoying to other people?

I have a simple way to find out, and I call it the Imagine If Test.

The test is straightforward.  Before you do something, ask yourself:

What if 10% of people – or 1 out of every 10 people – did exactly what I'm about to do?

If the answer creates frustration, inconvenience, or complete chaos, there is a pretty good chance you shouldn't be doing it.

The interesting thing about the Imagine If Test is that most of us can spot when someone else fails it.  The real challenge is recognizing when we do.

Let me give you an example.

Today I ran into a recurring and frustrating situation at my fitness club.  Let's call him Towel Guy.

Towel Guy is an almost daily visitor to the locker room.  He arrives, picks out his locker, and then spreads one of the club towels on the floor in front of it.

Not a huge deal, right?

Well, it becomes a bigger deal when you realize he stretches the towel across the space in front of two lockers.  Which is actually four lockers because there are upper and lower lockers and each member can only lock one.

Still not the worst part.

After laying claim to his little piece of locker room real estate, Towel Guy heads off to work out for an hour or more while the towel remains exactly where he left it.

The towel sits there taking up space while everyone else has to step around it, over it, or find another place to stand.

ACTUAL PICTURE OF TOWEL

Now let's apply the Imagine If Test to this situation so you can see how remarkably inappropriate this is and that I am not just an uptight guy looking for things to complain about.

What if 1 out of every 10 members did the same thing?

Many of the lockers would have a towel spread out in front of them.  There would be nowhere to stand, nowhere to change, and nowhere to move around.

Therefore, Towel Guy… you FAIL the Imagine If Test.

Now let's head out to the fitness floor for another example.

We'll call this guy Singing Man.

Singing Man puts on his headphones and apparently decides the rest of us should enjoy his playlist too.  So, throughout his workout he belts out songs at full volume.  Really, he uses his outdoor yelling voice to belt out the lyrics.

Now let's apply the test.

What if 10% of the people on the fitness floor decided to sing while they worked out?

Picture 20 people all singing different songs at the same time.

That workout would get old in a hurry.

Singing Man, you also FAILED the Imagine If Test.

Before we go any further, let me admit that I've failed the Imagine If Test myself.  In fact, I probably fail it quite often.

One example is driving.

There have been times when I've driven up the outside lane when traffic is backed up and cut in at the last second because I was in a hurry.

At the time, it felt efficient.

Then I applied the test.

“Hey Gregg, what if 1 out of every 10 drivers did the same thing?”

The answer is obvious. Traffic would be even worse, tempers would flare, many drivers would be jockeying for position or honking or flipping “the bird” at others.  Nothing but negative energy everywhere.

Gregg – You just FAILED the Imagine If Test!

The tricky part is that when we're the ones doing it, we almost always have a reason.

Towel Guy probably doesn't want his feet touching the locker room floor.  Singing Man is
just enjoying his workout.  I was in a hurry and didn't want to sit in traffic.

We all have reasons.  The question isn't whether we have a reason.  The question is whether the behavior passes the test.

That's why the Imagine If Test is so useful.  It forces us to stop defending our behavior and start evaluating it.

And that’s really the point.

The Imagine If Test isn't something we use only when other people annoy us.

It's something we use to catch ourselves.

The fitness club examples just happen to be two of my most recent examples of where I’ve used the test.  However, you’ll find it works almost anywhere.

I regularly ask myself:

What have I been doing that wouldn't pass the Imagine If Test?

You should also ask it every now and then.

What do you do at home, at work, in your neighborhood, with friends, or in your community that wouldn't pass?

The reality is we all do things from time to time that probably don't.

The value of the Imagine If Test is that it gives us a chance to step back and look at our own behavior through a different lens.

And, I must admit, it’s also a great way to bring levity to frustrating situations resulting from the obnoxious and sometimes inappropriate ways that others around us behave.

Just for fun, here are my Top 10 Imagine If Test examples that tend to fail every time.

1. Yelling at a kids' sporting event.
2. Talking during a movie
3. Driving past traffic and cutting in at the last second.
4. Taking forever to place your order while a line forms behind you.
5. Leaving your shopping cart in the parking lot.
6. Using speakerphone in public.  Or worse, on a plane while taxiing.
7. Watching videos without headphones.
8. Not cleaning up after your dog.
9. Letting your kids run wild in a restaurant.
10. Replying all when it isn't necessary.

Most of us have probably been guilty of at least a few of these.

I know I have.

So, here's my challenge for you.

At least once a week, stop and ask yourself:

What if 10% of people – 1 out of every 10 – did exactly what I'm doing right now?

Would society function just fine, or would it create frustration, inconvenience, annoyance, or maybe even complete chaos?

If it passes the test, keep going.

If it doesn't, maybe it's time to make a different choice.