We may believe we are in control of a situation, but it’s often an illusion. Let me explain.

• I am fascinated by the concept of a placebo button.
• A placebo button is a push-button or control interface that provides tactile feedback and appears to function but has no actual effect on the system it is supposed to control.
• These buttons are mechanically sound - they click, light up, or beep - but they are disconnected from the underlying machinery.
• They exist primarily to provide the user with a psychological sense of agency, known as the illusion of control.
• The concept relies on a psychological principle championed by Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer in the 1970s. Her research found that humans tolerate stress, pain, and waiting much better if they believe they have some control over the situation - even if that control is entirely imaginary.
• The illusion of control satisfies two emotional needs:
  1. Stress Reduction: Standing at a crosswalk or in a hot office is stressful. Taking an action (by pressing a button) releases that stress, making the wait feel shorter.
  2. Action Bias: Humans generally prefer doing something to doing nothing. Pressing a futile button satisfies the urge to act.
• We are surrounded by physical placebo buttons, which are easy to detect, but we are also surrounded by non-physical illusions of control that are far more difficult to acknowledge.
• For example, you may feel you have autonomy in your job, but in reality you are operating within a framework of legal and contractual boundaries determined by others.
• Another example that comes to mind are elections: you may feel that you are exercising your control by voting, but it matters not if others get to decide for whom or what you are allowed to vote for.
• As leaders, we must be aware of these illusions: we must see past them, or even employ them when they help with team morale. Such deployments of illusions of control to reduce stress are often termed as a “Benevolent Deception”.
• Ultimately in a large organization, we are all executing on a plan that has been determined by others. We may be able to influence the details, but the strategic objective is set by senior management, the board, the customers, or the wider market.
• We are all accountable to someone, and in pure power dynamics: we are pressing the placebo button, but they installed it.
• Knowing they are there and what their purpose is the key point: once you see your framework of operations clearly, you will feel more comfortable setting such frameworks for your team.
• As a Stoic, I believe the only thing I truly control is my reactions to events. Everything else I employ is influence, but not direct control.
• Similarly, I have developed a heightened awareness of when others are attempting to control me, and I would encourage you to do the same.
• Most of it is harmless, or with positive intent, but occasionally you will be manipulated into pressing “placebo buttons” unknowingly that do nothing more than pacify you.

Sources

Illusion of control: Why the world is full of buttons that don’t work - https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/placebo-buttons-design/index.html

Placebo buttons, dark patterns and deception. Exploring the role of ethics in UX and why it matters. - https://medium.com/pia-hartvigsen/placebo-buttons-dark-patterns-and-deception-2190989add6d

The 'Close Door' Buttons in Elevators Don't Actually Do Anything - https://www.sciencealert.com/the-close-door-buttons-in-elevators-don-t-actually-do-anything

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