A bunch of seminary students were reminded of the parable of the Good Samaritan. They were then told to walk to a nearby building for a task. One group of students were told that they had plenty of time to get there, while another were told they were late already.
Enroute, the students encountered a man sitting slumped in a doorway who moaned and coughed twice as they walked by. Unknown to the poor souls, some psychologists had setup an experiment to observe their behaviour towards this ‘victim’. Among the students who were running late, only 10% offered to help the victim in need – some literally stepped over the victim. When they were not in a hurry, 63% helped.
Despite just being reminded of the lesson of the Good Samaritan’s willingness to help a stranger in need, the import of the lesson was negated by the scarcity of time that the students felt in that moment.
From receptionists to nurses, people in several professional roles have to help customers in need. Since hurry is a formidable foe, these professionals would need slack in their schedules to answer the call of duty.
Think about it – if the parable of the Good Samaritan did not have any effect on seminary students, your corporate training sessions don’t stand a chance.
Observations 