After five trials, half of the participants were randomly assigned to experience a reset and see a clean graph, without their performance on the first five games, whereas the other half continued to see all of their performance tracked. They saw their performance tracked on a graph, so after each trial, they could see the number of correct words they submitted. Participants were told they would be paid based on the total number of correct words they submitted across 10 trials of the game. To do this, I conducted a laboratory experiment with 202 MTurk participants, asking them to work on a word-search game. However, when players’ pre-trade batting averages were relatively high (e.g., one standard deviation above their league average), a performance reset was associated with a subsequent decrease in their hit probability, relative to no resets.Įven though I carefully controlled for numerous factors that might influence players’ batting performance (e.g., the number of times a batter encountered the same pitcher, team performance) and conducted additional analyses to address alternative explanations, this study didn’t establish that performance resets caused changes in motivation. When players’ pre-trade batting averages were relatively low (e.g., one standard deviation below their league average), a performance reset was associated with a subsequent increase in hit probability, as compared to players who did not experience a reset.
Using 269,623 observations of “at bats,” involving 701 regular-season trades, I found that being traded across leagues had a bigger effect on players’ performance than being traded within a league but whether this effect was positive or negative depended on the players’ performance prior to being traded. To measure effects, I focused on players’ batting performance, obtaining 40 years of data (1975-2014) from Retrosheet to track what happened each time a batter was at bat. I used across-league trades as the “treatment” that induced performance resets, and within-league trades as the “control” without resets. Their season-to-date statistics are reset if they are traded across leagues - they get a clean slate in their new league - but if they’re traded to a team in the same league, their statistics will be continuously tracked from before the trade. During the regular season, players can be traded to teams within the same league or across leagues.
The MLB consists of two comparable leagues: the American League and the National League. To investigate whether performance resets affect subsequent motivation and performance, I first conducted a field study using archival data from a high-stakes setting, one where individuals’ performance is occasionally reset and is relatively independent of their teammates: Major League Baseball (MLB). In an online survey I conducted of 572 full-time employees from a variety of occupations, 40% indicated that they’d experienced their performance being reset at least once in their job. For example, performance on a specific metric (e.g., sales tallies, billable hours) or on a general evaluation can be reset to zero at the beginning of a calendar cycle, when a new manager takes over, or when you start a new job. Performance resets - when employees’ performance records get wiped clean, their past performance decoupled from their future performance - are common in organizations. Those with lower performance became more motivated and improved after their performance was reset, while stronger performers found resets demotivating. Across one field study and three laboratory experiments, I found that a fresh start on people’s performance records - what I call a “performance reset” - affected their motivation and future performance differently, depending on their past performance. I explored these questions in the context of work performance. It marks a new period - a distinct point between the past and the future - which motivates people to set new goals and strive for self-improvement.īut what if you were already doing pretty well? Would a fresh start still be motivating? Or might it actually set you back? The beginning of the year is often a time for fresh starts.
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