We make fun of the ludicrous 'sunbed-wars', but at the office we are no different

Hotel guests fighting over a sunbed by the pool: we are quick to condemn such behaviour. But at the office, we do exactly the same, observes innovation expert Simone van Neerven. Asking for too much budget out of fear, claiming the best workspace, and always parking at the front. “We create the problems we think we’re solving.”

Run baby, run

It’s 6:29 in the morning. A large group of hotel guests is waiting impatiently at the gate of the hotel pool. A security guard shuffles towards the gate and slowly opens it. Then, he quickly jumps aside, afraid of being trampled.

The hotel guests are pushing and shoving each other. They rush to the sunbeds, holding several towels under their arms, to claim the best spots, hoping to get the same beds as the day before. Of course, they won’t be sunbathing at 6:30 in the morning, but everyone wants to play it safe. They claim the beds for the entire day, not yet knowing whether they will use them at all.

This ritual has been ongoing for years, and during the summer holidays, it is repeated daily. Online, you can find numerous viral videos of the phenomenon, as well as heated arguments between hotel guests over the sunbeds. For example, when someone breaks the unwritten rules and takes a bed that was claimed by someone else earlier in the day.

What on earth is going on here?

When you watch these videos, they reveal fascinating human behaviour:

  1. A sense of scarcity. When people think there is (a potential) shortage, they fear missing out and start hoarding (or claiming a sunbed).
  2. Competitiveness. People only want the best for themselves (and so they race for that best spot with a view or near the pool).
  3. Risk aversion. People prefer to take excessive precautions rather than potentially miss out later (even if they’re going shopping all day and only want to lounge by the pool for an hour, they still line up very early in the morning to claim a bed for the entire day).
  4. Operant conditioning. People think their behaviour is acceptable or even reinforced when they aren’t corrected or punished (as there are no consequences for putting towels on the sunbeds, everyone does it every day).
  5. Lack of trust. People don’t trust that the process is fair, for example, because clear rules are lacking. Thus, they choose their own method, one that benefits them (they all rush like crazy to grab that sunbed early in the morning).
  6. Herd behaviour. People are social creatures and imitate the behaviour of others. When everyone does it, it must be okay, and so, they will do it too (other hotel guests gather in front of the gate early in the morning, so they join them to claim their sunbed too).

It happens at the office, too!

We find these videos of running hotel guests ludicrous, but at the office, we do the same. The annual budgeting process bears a striking resemblance to claiming the sunbeds (although the controllers probably aren’t lining up at the CFO’s door with their Excel spreadsheets under their arms).

Departments claim too much budget because they know there’s only a limited amount of money available. They want the best for their department, and better be safe than sorry (you never know!). Furthermore, they are well aware they are overbudgeting, but continue to do so because that’s how it has been done for years, and they have always got away with it. Also, quickly spending the entire budget in the final months of the year to get the same budget the following year is considered perfectly normal. And so, all departments keep doing this, year after year.

We all do it

This isn’t limited to the budgeting process; we all do it every day, everywhere. We crave the best workspace in the open-plan office, and go for the parking lot in the front. We book that nice meeting room far in advance, even if a smaller one would do. At lunchtime, we are going to the cafeteria first, fearing that the delicious sandwich will be sold out otherwise.

With this kind of behaviour, we often end up creating the very problem we feared, but that doesn’t really exist. When everyone requests a budget that is more than they truly need, the available funds quickly run out. Because teams rush to spend what’s left at the end of the year, overall organisational costs remain high. It’s only a matter of time before the next round of cost-cutting begins, and in anticipation, everyone inflates their budgets to leave room for negotiation with top management. And thus, we continue going in circles, preoccupied with our self-created problems.

Relax, take it easy...

The absurd videos of people racing to claim sunbeds should serve as a metaphor for reflecting on our own behaviour. After all, is it really such a big deal if you have to walk a little farther because your parking spot isn’t right out front, or if you’re working at a different desk for the day? Maybe that small inconvenience leads to a pleasant conversation with a colleague you hadn’t met before, one that sparks a brilliant new idea. Or perhaps another department finally gets the opportunity to invest in a project that benefits the entire organisation.

This article was originally published in Dutch on MT/Sprout, the most popular business and management platform in the Netherlands.

go to column overview  |  go to homepage

don’t miss out!

get my columns straight into your mailbox:

Scroll to Top