In the late 19th century, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus embarked on a series of experiments to uncover the secrets of the human memory. He was determined to understand how information is retained and forgotten over time, and he was willing to be his own subject in order to do so.
Ebbinghaus created lists of nonsense syllables (such as “WID” or “KOK”) and memorized them. He then tested himself on his recall of the syllables at various intervals of time, ranging from a few minutes to several days. He recorded the number of syllables he was able to recall at each interval and plotted the results in a graph, which became known as the Forgetting Curve.
The Forgetting Curve showed that Ebbinghaus forgot most of the information he had learned within the first hour, and the rate of forgetting continued to increase over time. He also found that the rate of forgetting was slowed when he reviewed and reinforced the information on a regular basis.
These experiments provided important insights into the workings of the human memory and the importance of regularly reviewing and reinforcing information in order to retain it over time. Ebbinghaus’ findings helped to establish the foundation of modern memory research and have since been widely confirmed and expanded upon by subsequent researchers.
Here are some statistics related to the Forgetting Curve that help to illustrate its importance:
- The Forgetting Curve shows that most people forget about 50% of information within the first hour of learning it, and the rate of forgetting continues to increase over time.
- The average person forgets 70% of new information within 24 hours unless it is actively reviewed and reinforced.
- Studies have found that people who review and reinforce information regularly retain up to 90% of it, compared to just 20% for those who do not review it.
This is where the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and its L10 meeting come in. The L10 meeting is a weekly meeting that helps ensure Scorecard measurables and Rocks are reviewed and reinforced, keeping everyone on-track and focused, while also identifying Issues that may be preventing progress. By holding the L10 meeting on a regular basis, the EOS system helps to counteract the effects of the Forgetting Curve through repetition.
Repetition is one of the best ways to combat the Forgetting Curve. When information is reviewed repeatedly, both the amount of information lost and the speed of loss slows (check out the image from https://www.ajtutoring.com/blog/forgetting-curve/):
The L10 meeting is a highly structured and focused meeting, and participants are encouraged to give a rating on a scale of 1-10 at the end of each meeting. The goal is for the L10 meeting to receive a rating of 10 from all participants, indicating that the meeting was highly successful in terms of meeting its objectives, staying on track, and driving progress towards the organization’s priorities. The use of a rating system helps to provide clear and objective feedback on the performance of the meeting and helps to identify areas for improvement.
This video from McGill University is a great summary, which can also assist in training efforts: https://youtu.be/UpAq9EZpL5A