Does the time of a meeting really change a person’s decision? What does the parole study show?
Yes, and there is a study that should make every dentist uneasy. Researchers looked at roughly 1,100 parole hearings in Israel, prisoners up for early release. Same crimes, same paperwork, same reasons for and against. What predicted whether someone walked free was not the facts of the case. It was the time of day the hearing landed on the docket. Early slots and slots right after a break got favorable rulings. Late ones got the default answer, which was no. Now, your patient is not asking to leave prison. But the machinery is identical. A judge with a depleted brain reverts to the safe default, and so does a patient at four in the afternoon staring at three treatment options. The lesson is blunt. Schedule the decision when the deciding is good, not when it is convenient.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.