ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joachim de Posada - Speaker and author
Joachim de Posada was a speaker and motivational coach. He was the author of "How to Survive Among the Piranhas" and "Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Yet."

Why you should listen

Joachim de Posada's infectious energy and humor turned him into a popular motivational coach. Working in Spanish and English, he helped companies and teams find deep and lasting reasons to succeed. His books included How to Survive Among the Piranhas and his latest, No te comas el marshmallow ... todavia, or Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Yet. (He had recently updated the book for the recession, calling it Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Ever.)

More profile about the speaker
Joachim de Posada | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Joachim de Posada: Don't eat the marshmallow!

Filmed:
3,525,386 views

In this short talk from TED U, Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification -- and how it can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.
- Speaker and author
Joachim de Posada was a speaker and motivational coach. He was the author of "How to Survive Among the Piranhas" and "Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Yet." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:18
I'm here because I have a very important message:
0
0
3000
00:21
I think we have found
1
3000
2000
00:23
the most important factor for success.
2
5000
3000
00:26
And it was found close to here, Stanford.
3
8000
5000
00:31
Psychology professor took kids that were four years old
4
13000
4000
00:35
and put them in a room all by themselves.
5
17000
4000
00:39
And he would tell the child, a four-year-old kid,
6
21000
3000
00:42
"Johnny, I am going to leave you here with a marshmallow
7
24000
3000
00:45
for 15 minutes.
8
27000
2000
00:47
If, after I come back, this marshmallow is here,
9
29000
4000
00:51
you will get another one. So you will have two."
10
33000
4000
00:55
To tell a four-year-old kid to wait 15 minutes
11
37000
3000
00:58
for something that they like,
12
40000
2000
01:00
is equivalent to telling us, "We'll bring you coffee in two hours."
13
42000
4000
01:04
(Laughter)
14
46000
1000
01:05
Exact equivalent.
15
47000
2000
01:07
So what happened when the professor left the room?
16
49000
5000
01:12
As soon as the door closed...
17
54000
4000
01:16
two out of three ate the marshmallow.
18
58000
2000
01:18
Five seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds,
19
60000
3000
01:21
two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes.
20
63000
2000
01:23
Some lasted 14-and-a-half minutes.
21
65000
3000
01:26
(Laughter)
22
68000
1000
01:27
Couldn't do it. Could not wait.
23
69000
4000
01:31
What's interesting is that one out of three
24
73000
3000
01:34
would look at the marshmallow and go like this ...
25
76000
5000
01:39
Would look at it.
26
81000
2000
01:41
Put it back.
27
83000
2000
01:43
They would walk around. They would play with their skirts and pants.
28
85000
5000
01:48
That child already, at four, understood
29
90000
3000
01:51
the most important principle for success,
30
93000
3000
01:54
which is the ability to delay gratification.
31
96000
4000
01:58
Self-discipline:
32
100000
2000
02:00
the most important factor for success.
33
102000
3000
02:03
15 years later, 14 or 15 years later,
34
105000
3000
02:06
follow-up study.
35
108000
2000
02:08
What did they find?
36
110000
2000
02:10
They went to look for these kids who were now 18 and 19.
37
112000
3000
02:13
And they found that 100 percent
38
115000
3000
02:16
of the children that had not eaten the marshmallow were successful.
39
118000
4000
02:20
They had good grades. They were doing wonderful.
40
122000
2000
02:22
They were happy. They had their plans.
41
124000
2000
02:24
They had good relationships with the teachers, students.
42
126000
3000
02:27
They were doing fine.
43
129000
1000
02:28
A great percentage of the kids that ate the marshmallow,
44
130000
3000
02:31
they were in trouble.
45
133000
1000
02:32
They did not make it to university.
46
134000
2000
02:34
They had bad grades. Some of them dropped out.
47
136000
2000
02:36
A few were still there with bad grades.
48
138000
2000
02:38
A few had good grades.
49
140000
2000
02:40
I had a question in my mind: Would Hispanic kids
50
142000
2000
02:42
react the same way as the American kids?
51
144000
3000
02:45
So I went to Colombia. And I reproduced the experiment.
52
147000
3000
02:48
And it was very funny. I used four, five and six years old kids.
53
150000
3000
02:51
And let me show you what happened.
54
153000
3000
03:09
(Spanish) (Laughter)
55
171000
4000
04:50
So what happened in Colombia?
56
272000
2000
04:52
Hispanic kids, two out of three ate the marshmallow;
57
274000
3000
04:55
one out of three did not.
58
277000
2000
04:57
This little girl was interesting;
59
279000
2000
04:59
she ate the inside of the marshmallow.
60
281000
2000
05:01
(Laughter)
61
283000
1000
05:02
In other words, she wanted us to think that she had not eaten it, so she would get two.
62
284000
4000
05:06
But she ate it.
63
288000
2000
05:08
So we know she'll be successful. But we have to watch her.
64
290000
3000
05:11
(Laughter)
65
293000
1000
05:12
She should not go into banking, for example,
66
294000
3000
05:15
or work at a cash register.
67
297000
2000
05:17
But she will be successful.
68
299000
2000
05:19
And this applies for everything. Even in sales.
69
301000
2000
05:21
The sales person that --
70
303000
4000
05:25
the customer says, "I want that." And the person says, "Okay, here you are."
71
307000
2000
05:27
That person ate the marshmallow.
72
309000
2000
05:29
If the sales person says, "Wait a second.
73
311000
2000
05:31
Let me ask you a few questions to see if this is a good choice."
74
313000
3000
05:34
Then you sell a lot more.
75
316000
1000
05:35
So this has applications in all walks of life.
76
317000
5000
05:40
I end with -- the Koreans did this.
77
322000
3000
05:43
You know what? This is so good
78
325000
2000
05:45
that we want a marshmallow book for children.
79
327000
2000
05:47
We did one for children. And now it is all over Korea.
80
329000
3000
05:50
They are teaching these kids exactly this principle.
81
332000
2000
05:52
And we need to learn that principle here in the States,
82
334000
2000
05:54
because we have a big debt.
83
336000
2000
05:56
We are eating more marshmallows than we are producing.
84
338000
2000
05:58
Thank you so much.
85
340000
2000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joachim de Posada - Speaker and author
Joachim de Posada was a speaker and motivational coach. He was the author of "How to Survive Among the Piranhas" and "Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Yet."

Why you should listen

Joachim de Posada's infectious energy and humor turned him into a popular motivational coach. Working in Spanish and English, he helped companies and teams find deep and lasting reasons to succeed. His books included How to Survive Among the Piranhas and his latest, No te comas el marshmallow ... todavia, or Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Yet. (He had recently updated the book for the recession, calling it Don't Eat the Marshmallow ... Ever.)

More profile about the speaker
Joachim de Posada | Speaker | TED.com