The document summarizes research into mapping individual and collective regret patterns in organizational life. It evaluates existing literature on counterfactual thinking and the experience of regret. Interviews were conducted with 10 employees to understand causes of unrealized potential and resulting regrets. Analysis found regrets can originate from internal personal factors like shortcomings or restraining oneself, or external factors like rules or lack of opportunities. While external factors are sometimes beyond an individual's control, mental barriers are often the true cause. Realizing untapped potential through external stimuli like motivation can empower employees and increase positivity.

1. ANANTKUMAR-PGP06.008
IndianInstitute of ManagementRohtak
Indian Institute of Management Rohtak
Assignment-Human Resource Management
MAPPING INDIVIDUAL AND
COLLECTIVE REGRET IN
ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE
A study into regret patterns of working individuals

2. Introduction: The objective of this paper is to map the regret patterns among the working
individuals. The existing literature on the regrets and untapped potential of individuals are
evaluated in the context of this research. The cause of origin of a regret in an employee could be
different and this research has tried to generalize and classify those causes of origin. Untapped
potential of an employee at the workplace as a probable cause of regret is evaluated. The role of
external factors in realizing the potential of an employee hence saving on the regrets are also
accessed. The effects of realizing the potential are also discussed. In the end, before the concluding
note, a few implications of these findings for organizational behavior practitioners are listed.
Evaluation of Existing Literature:
1. The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking
Kai Epstude and Neal J. Roese
“Counterfactual thoughts are mental representations of alternatives to past events, actions,
or states (Byrne, 2005; Roese, 1997). They are epitomized by the phrase “what might have
been,” which implicates a juxtaposition of an imagined versus factual state of affairs.
Crucially, counterfactual thoughts are often evaluative, specifying alternatives that are in
some tangible way better or worse than actuality. Better alternatives are termed upward
counterfactuals; worse alternatives are termed downward counterfactuals. When upward
counterfactuals focus on personal choice, the resulting emotion is termed regret.”
Evaluation: There are various choices/alternatives available for an employee in today’s
corporate world and they take decisions on them every day, like whether to go onsite for a
project or not? Whether I should switch to a better paying but less stable job or not? Etc.
The outcome of these everyday decisions based on actual experience and the cognitive
evaluation of other forgone alternatives are counterfactuals. Better counterfactuals or better
alternatives not taken results in Regrets for the employee and hence affects their work.
2. The Temporal Pattern to the Experience of Regret
Thomas Gilovich and Victoria Husted Medvec
“Through telephone surveys, written questionnaires, and face-to-face interviews, it was
found that people's biggest regrets tend to involve things they have failed to do in their
lives. This conflicts with research on counterfactual thinking that indicates that people
regret unfortunate outcomes that stem from actions taken more than identical outcomes
Alternatives(A,B,C)
Decision(Chose
one-B)
Evaluationof
alternatives-A,B,C
Regret,if other
alternative better
than actual

3. that result from actions foregone. These divergent findings were reconciled by
demonstrating that people's regrets follow a systematic time course: Actions cause more
pain in the short-term, but inactions are regretted more in the long run.”
Evaluation: The regrets for an employee at the workplace may not be just because he/she
chose the wrong or low return alternative but also because he/she chose none i.e. did not
take any action. In the longer run this regret is more painful as compared to the one where
he/she took an action.
Situation-1: A manager had the option of investing in three projects A, B, C. She invested
in project C. But later came to know that project A gave much higher returns than C.
Situation-2: Manager had the option of investing in project A, but she did not. But later
came to know that A gave a very handsome return.
The regret for the manager in situation 1 will be in the short run but she will regret a long
time for the opportunity forgone in situation 2.
3. Abraham Maslow,1908-1970
Dr. C. George Boeree
“If you want to be truly self-actualizing, you need to have your lower needs taken care of,
at least to a considerable extent. This makes sense: If you are hungry, you are scrambling
to get food; If you are unsafe, you have to be continuously on guard; If you are isolated
and unloved, you have to satisfy that need; If you have a low sense of self-esteem, you
have to be defensive or compensate. When lower needs are unmet, you can’t fully devote
yourself to fulfilling your potentials”
Evaluation: In the corporate world, employees would never be able to reach their full
potential if first their lower level needs are not fulfilled. The needs in the company context
could be different like motivation, recognition, incentives etc. These needs should be first
identified before trying to realize the full potential of the employees. This will result in
employee satisfaction and better overall output of the employees.
4. TED X- Mike Barwis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kBcgY3F444
A catalyst is required for human beings to get to their full potential to tap their potential to
the fullest and it may be anything a coach, a mother, the economic conditions, hardships
faced, an accident etc.
Evaluation: Some kind of external stimuli is needed for the employees to make them
realize their potential.
5. TED X- Robert Quinn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6A1Rmihnjg
“When we tap potential which is untapped, we see things in new ways and whole new
world of possibility opens up”

4. “When we embrace a higher purpose in our life, meaning increases in our lives, meaning
is a part of empowerment, when we feel empowered we take more actions, our sense of
positivity goes up”
Evaluation: The realization of an employee’s potential could open a plethora of new
opportunities for her making her empowered and filling her with a sense of positivity.
Critique of Existing Literature:
The existing researchers have analyzed regrets from the perspective of forgone opportunities and
alternatives [1, 2]. They have also talked about the role of external influence in realizing the
potential of a person and what happens after realizing the potential [4, 5].
“Counterfactual thinking” is analyzed in a general context [1, 2], while it should be context
specific. Individuals, in their rational minds, choose the best alternative given the information
available to them. The returns of an alternative are not the only factors that individuals consider
there are other behavioral and cognitive factors that come into play which are difficult to quantify.
Similar is the case with forgone opportunities [2], which is context specific and the circumstances
faced at that point of time by the individual and his/her state of mind determine the outcome.
The higher level needs like esteem needs of an individual are not fixed [3], it may be
different for the same person at different times. And fulfilling all/most of the needs of an individual
is very difficult and hence realizing the full potential would be a very rare task. Another question
is that whether positivity is the only outcome of realizing full potential? [5]
Unresolved issues:
 Identifying causes of unrealized potential of employees in company perspective
 In what situations unrealized potential results in regrets and what are the other causes of
regrets
 What kind of actions by employees result in regrets
To understand the above issues we have taken interviews.
Research Method: Research was conducted by conducting telephonic interviews of 10 working
individuals. The crucial points of the conversation were noted down and they have been
summarized in Annexure-1. All the respondents were communicated about this academic research
Achieve
unrealized
potential
New
possibilities
Empowerment
Increased
positivity

5. and it was told that they will remain anonymous. A brief explanation was given about the study
and our requirements. All the questions asked were open ended and proper time was given to the
respondents on each question to express their structured and honest views.
Analysis:
After the analysis of interview excerpts we realized that the causes of regrets among the employees
can be, internal or personal choice. External factors are those factors which are beyond the person’s
control. But sometimes individual just assume that they cannot do something cause they have other
commitments and over the time it creates a mental barrier in them and they no longer even try.
Although not getting opportunities or not able to take risk due to particular reasons all these could
be classified as external factor beyond individual’s control. But in most cases it was observed that
these were more of a mental barrier than external. However in some cases some external factors
like rules-regulations of the company, protocols etc. also create situations which leads to employee
regrets.
One observation is that which is in line with Mike Barwis’s findings [3] that some external stimuli
may result in realizing an employee’s potential and hence enhancing the performance. But this
catalyst or external stimuli is constant and is different for different employees. Motivation is one
major external stimuli used by management for the empowerment of the employees but there can
be many like ‘competition’.
It was also observed that internally originated regrets could arise because of a- personal
shortcoming, Restraining self, or an unknown internal factor. The personal shortcomings are
primarily those issues which could have been taken care of but nothing was done about it. ‘Lack
of confidence’, ‘Not being able to communicate well’, ‘Speaking too much’ these are the examples
of personal shortcomings.
Mental
barrier
Unharnessed
potential
Regret
Unharnessed
potential
External stimuli Empowerment Positivity

6. Origin of regret Reasons of regret
External Beyond employee’s control could be only a
mental barrier in employee’s mind or macro
factor beyond her/his control
Internal Could be personal shortcoming (which could
have been taken care of but did not),
Restraining self (restraining the inner call due
to fear or lack of confidence) or an unknown
factor for which something could have been
done but did not
Personal Choice Action/Decision taken by the employee later
realizing that it was wrong
[Classification of regrets among employees at the workplace]
One of the biggest reasons of regret among the employees is restraining himself/herself. Not
pursuing the passion, not able to stand for self, not doing what actually wanted to do- all these
reflect restraining one’s own self. It was observed that in most of the cases the source of this is a
mental assumption or lack of confidence or any other internal factor, which is again related to
personal shortcomings. There are also some unknown internal factors which lead to employee
regrets which individuals themselves are not able to comprehend.
It was also observed that individuals also regret their decisions/choices when they realize that it
was the wrong one as explained [1, 2].
Findings on unresolved issues:
 The causes of unrealized potential of employees in company perspective are the mental
barriers that they cannot do something or they are not allowed to do something. Other cause
is the self-assumptions by the employees that this is not allowed or I cannot do this etc.
 Until external stimuli is not given to the employee, they will not be able to realize their true
potential but this external stimuli could be different for different individuals.
 Various actions/decisions taken by the employee results in regrets it could be the decision
of taking bribe or doing any other unethical activity.

7. Implications on OB Practioners:
Origin of regret Implications on OB practitioners
External Motivation alone is not sufficient,
empowerment with motivation would be a better
tool as suggested by Chris Musselwhite.
Incorporating empowerment in ‘Reinforcement
Theory’
Busting self-assumed boundaries of employees
by management-employee interaction and
making employees aware of their rights
Reducing regulations that hinder an employee’s
work
Internal Trainings on soft skills that could help
employees overcome their personal
barriers/shortcomings
Evaluating the effects of the lifestyle of
employees on their performance
Evaluating the background of the employees on
their performance and thus determining perfect
jobfit
Personal Choice Evaluating the effects of peer groups on an
employee’s decision making
Incorporating ethical practices at each employee
level
Making employees understand the importance
of a bad decision and mistake, making them
share their mistakes and letting other employees
learn from it

8. Conclusion: The research has concluded that the causes of an employee’s regrets are not only
external (which are sometimes beyond her/his control), internal (personality traits, self-biases etc.
on which he/she has little control but which could have been improved by self), but also personal
choices on which the employee had complete control. The regrets also arise if the employee is not
able to realize his/her potential at the workplace but it has been observed that for making an
employee realize her/his true potential external involvement is necessary. This external
involvement/stimuli are found to be different for different employees.
References:
1. Kai Epstude and Neal J. Roese,(2007) “The Functional Theory of Counterfactual
Thinking”
2. Thomas Gilovich and Victoria Husted Medvec, (1994), “The Temporal Pattern to the
Experience of Regret”
3. Dr. C. George Boeree, “Abraham Maslow,1908-1970”
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html
4. TED X- Mike Barwis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kBcgY3F444
5. TED X- Robert Quinn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6A1Rmihnjg
6. Chris Musselwhite (2007) “Motivation = Empowerment”
http://www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20070801/musselwhite.html

9. Annexure:-
The given table contains the excerpts (in the first column) of the telephonic interview of 10
respondents about their regrets in professional life. The second column contains a small phrase
for each regret and the last column list the origin of the regret-
Excerpts Regret Origin of regret
My job does not allow me to
take risks
Not exploring Not able to realize potential due
to lack of opportunity,
External factor
I am not confident enough
while speaking that’s why
my suggestions are not
respected
Lack of confidence Personal shortcoming
I too became unethical after
watching others do it
Being unethical Personal choice
I speak more than required
which makes people think I
am dumb
Speaking more Personal shortcoming
I paid the price of other’s
mistakes because I did not
fight
Not standing up Restraining self
I always wanted to have a
startup but I am not able to
leave this stable job because
of family commitments
Not pursuing dream Restraining self
As I was bound to follow the
bank’s rules so in spite of
knowing the individuals very
well, I was not able to help
hence lost their friendship.
Not able to help External factor
I promised something to a
few employees under me but
was not able to fulfill the
promise because of
unforeseen reasons and they
left the company
Not fulfilling promise Restraining self + External
factor
I do not have a single
individual whom I can call
‘friend’ at the workplace
Not interacting Personal choice
I used to do theatre in my
college but was not able to
Not pursuing passion Restraining self

10. continue it due to this hectic
job after college
I am still not sure of what I
actually want to do in life
due to which I was not
serious for my last job and I
got fired
Not knowing self Internal factor unknown to self