What Airlines Taught me About the Power of Repetition

I’d like to apologize to the airline industry. I’m sorry, airline industry, because I’m about to make fun of you. Well let me clarify – I’m not sorry, because you’re doing something dumb that I wish you’d stop doing – but I’m afraid you guys will end up being the targets of a disproportionate number of my articles. I spend a lot of time in airplanes, so I suppose it’s only natural. If it’s any consolation, I promise I’ll make fun of hotels a lot, too.

Anyway, if you’ve flown anytime in the last 250 years, I’m sure you’ve heard the standard line: “We have a very full flight today, and there are still several passengers waiting in the jetway, so if you could move out of the aisle as quickly as possible so that everyone can find their seats, that would be greatly appreciated. Again, welcome aboard.”

Move out of the aisle as quickly as possible. Sage advice. Because I don’t know about you, but I constantly see people wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles, thoughtlessly making everyone else’s life difficult. You can almost hear them thinking, ‘I’m really enjoying this aisle, I’m in no real hurry to get to my destination, and I enjoy infuriating others with my sloth-like movements, so I think I’ll stand here idly and make it impossible for everyone behind me to sit down. Later on I think I’ll stuff wads of cardboard into all the toilets so no one can use them for the rest of the flight.’

But today I heard a delightful variation on the typical ‘get out of the aisle’ line, one that I’m hoping all other flight attendants will soon be adopting. “Ladies and gentlemen, there are still several passengers waiting on the jet bridge, so if you can let people squeeze past you so they can get to their seats, we can ensure an on-time departure. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Finally! A flight attendant who knows the real score. Airplane aisles are easily sixteen inches wide, more than enough room for two grown individuals to gracefully slide past one another. Besides, thanks to all these stupid sexual harassment laws everywhere, I haven’t been able to molest my coworkers for months. Looks like airplane aisles are where the real action’s at.

But here’s the real issue. I don’t actually mind that they’re reminding me of things that everyone on Earth already knows they need to do. It’s OK to remind people of things, and it’s probably the law. I don’t even mind that they’re asking me to do something that’s all but physically impossible. What bothers me is that they do it 14 times per flight. Every 35 seconds I get the same reminder, a reminder that by the way everyone you’re talking to is attempting to follow! That’s the equivalent of telling your salespeople to make more sales calls while they’re in the process of making sales calls – or better yet, of telling your children to get a good night’s sleep while they’re already sleeping.

I’m not exactly sure at what point the repetition of a ‘friendly reminder’ turns into ‘oh my God shut up I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!’ But I’m certain it’s less than 14.

I’m certain it’s less than 14.

I’m certain it’s less than 14.

I’m certain it’s less than 14.

I’m certain it’s less than 14.

Have I made my point yet?

I’m certain it’s less than 14…

Is there anything you find yourself repeating too often to your colleagues or employees? If so, then you’re probably doing it for the same reason the airline people do it – because you know that the people you’re talking to aren’t listening. They don’t want to hear what you have to say, so they’re consciously ignoring you. That can easily be seen as a fault of theirs. But it can also mean that the way you’re communicating is unfortunately failing to get through. So consider changing the way you try to communicate important information – or, better yet, say it once and then give people the opportunity to succeed or fail. If you constantly remind them of things you’ve already reminded them of, you’ll only encourage them to tune you out.