The New York Times Magazine, first presented Gary Greenberg’s feature article “What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick?” on November 7, 2018.
This article covers lots of ground. From the origin of the placebo to Ted Kaptchuk’s (Professor of Medicine and Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Harvard-wide Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter (PiPS)), current research into the clinical application and relevance of the placebo, there is enough in this article for all readers.
Why a medical discussion on placebo? Good question. December’s Thought Distillery will cover the subject of Leading by Example: What Does That Mean. Simultaneously, I have heard in several podcast interviews and seen in quotes over the past month statements like “It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than it is to think yourself into a new way of acting.” by Millard Fuller or “Fake it till You Make it” by Unknown, etc. These phrases all sound to me like a sort of placebo effect. A leader is providing a sugar pill of sorts with the intent of organizational response. So I ask you, it this a fair comparison, or am I drinking too much “snake oil”?
I would be interested to what you have to say.
Photo Illustration by Paul Sahre