What Batman can teach us about perseverance, confidence and creativity

We’ve all been there. It’s the session after lunch. You’re in an airless, cheerless room with no natural light. The objective of the workshop, which felt achievable and exciting at 9:00 AM that morning, now feels akin to banging your head against a brick wall. You are over-caffeinated and under-inspired. In these circumstances — what are the options? How can you rediscover the “va va voom” and get the job done successfully?

Some people advocate a post-lunch yoga session, whilst others suggest a quick-fire “energiser”.

Well, one solution might be to don a cloak, jump on the table and growl “I’m Batman!”

The Batman Effect

Let’s back-track a little.

Studies in adults show that resilient people do better in almost all areas of their lives; a 2003 study published in Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies found that the ability to persevere through discomfort was linked to higher intelligence, greater academic achievement, and better work performance. Without perseverance, kids can grow into adults who give up easily whenever they encounter a challenge (e.g. quitting a job when it moves them out of their comfort zone or leaving relationships when they’re faced with communication difficulties).

In 2016, a group of researchers were looking to understand ‘perseverance’ in children aged 4–6 years old. They were experimenting with different ways to help children focus for longer and keep working to overcome a challenge.

The researchers assigned all of the children a boring task on a computer. The children were told to work as long and as hard as they could — and they were forewarned that the task would be boring. But they were also told they could take a break whenever they wanted to play a fun game on a tablet.

The children were divided into three groups:

• Group 1 — Kids were instructed to periodically ask themselves, “Am I working hard?”
• Group 2 — Kids were instructed to refer to themselves in the third person i.e. ask themselves, “Is ______ working hard?” (they filled in the blank with their name).
• Group 3 — Kids were instructed to pretend they were a hard-working character — like Batman or Dora the Explorer. They were given a prop, such as a cape, as a reminder to act like their character. Then, they were told to periodically ask themselves if their character was working hard, such as, “Is Batman working hard?”

The children who referred to themselves in the first-person took the most breaks and struggled to get through the task. The children who referred to themselves in the third person did a bit better — likely caused by the ability to separate themselves from their emotions by referring to themselves in the third person.

However, it was the third group who performed the best. Researchers hypothesised that taking on the characteristics of a hard-working character gave them the confidence that they could keep going.

Further research showed that when in character children were less likely to stop a task following a mistake and said they had far more fun during the learning process.

The Power of Persona

In the comic books, Batman wears a mask to obscure his identity and to strike fear into the heart of the criminals of Gotham City. The mask itself doesn’t make him stronger, fitter or faster, but it is an integral part of the ‘Batman’ persona.

It is well-established that when their identity is protected, be it physically or digitally, people feel far more empowered. Unfortunately, we often hear of this being used for negative purposes — be it internet trolls or misinformation spread by anonymous sources.

But is it solely anonymity that gives people confidence or it is the persona that they create that empowers them?

What if we could harness the confidence and daring that comes from having a different persona — but in a more positive way? What if we could apply the resilience of ‘The Batman Effect’ to our daily lives? What if we could drive creativity by giving ourselves permission to think differently and try new things?

The Human Experience (HX) Learning

At Brand Genetics, we are always looking for ways to allow ourselves and our clients to be creatively confident. This is when we feel engaged, empowered and in a position to “take on the world”.

So, the next time you are running an activity with a challenging outcome, try one of the following creative approaches:

• Brand Persona Exercise: Imagine how Amazon, Apple or Nike might solve the problem… What resources might they employ? What are the parallels with your situation?
• Empathic Persona Exercise: Put yourself in the shoes of the target audience and explore the challenge from their perspective. When innovating for children, get on your hands and knees and see the world how they see it!
• “Hero” Persona Exercise: Ask yourself how Batman, Buffy or Bob-the-Builder might solve the problem? What would be their mindset? How can that mindset unlock new ways of looking at the challenge?

Dressing up is optional, but highly recommended.

Marc Edwards is a director at Brand Genetics, an insight and innovation agency specialising in human-centred insight and innovation. With nearly 20 years of agency and client-side experience, Marc is an insight and innovation specialist, with and a track record of driving value in brand and products through strategic planning and creative ideation.