Economics, Illogical or Irrational?
Once upon a time, long, long ago, a successful retail executive confided that in college she didn’t do well in economics. She... Read More
Objective Value, Experts as Masters of Illusions
Posted on11 Nov 2013
Tagswomen, scientific papers, value judgments, value, leadership dark side, Joshua Brustein, Sokal Moment, Bloomberg Businessweek, experts, The Economist, subliminity, scientific, price, objective, men, Dark Side, attractiveness, assumptions, anchoring
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Often, when unsure about value, we defer to experts. Experts are often leaders, so they bring leadership’s dark side with them: followers... Read More
Attack Statistics, Solve Problems
Posted on15 Aug 2013
Tagsarbitrariness, assumptions, definitions, intangibles, measure, numbers, perspective, problem solving, questioning techniques, statistics, tangibles, The Economist, Glass-Sand-Water Analogy
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If you don’t like the rules, change them. The article, “Boundary Problems” [The Economist, August 3, 2013 edition], reports that the United... Read More
Cruise Ship Analogy: Quantification as an Illness
Posted on09 Aug 2012
Tagsanalogy, quantnik, quantify, numbers, intuition, decisions, decision-making process, Cruise Ship Analogy, attraction, assumptions
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Imagine preparing to board a cruise ship, and a Quantnik stops you. He asks, “What is your suitcase’s volume?” You are puzzled... Read More
Ferrari Analogy: Fast Service vs. Good Service
Posted on09 Jul 2012
Tagsquality, speed, service, relationships, quality service, Ferrari Analogy, entertainment, customer service, assumptions
Comments2
Often we assume fast service is good service; however, we need to challenge constantly this assumption. As I wrote previously, customer service... Read More
Problem-solving Technique: Integrated Assumption
Even though writing down the problem can help us solve it, it’s also a form of defining the problem. Thus, we will... Read More
Cooperation vs. Self-interest (Pt 2): Context – The Great Influencer
Posted on29 Sep 2011
Tagsassumptions, behavior, collaboration, compliments, context, cooperation, Cooperation vs Self-interest Series, organizational culture, extrinsic, food, Harvard Business Review, Influence, intrinsic, leadership, Lee Ross, management, money, morale, motivation, Performance, pigeonholing, self-interest, Stanford, taste, Yochai Benkler
Comments1
As we saw with pigeonholing and tasting food, context influences us greatly. This extends to people’s inclinations to collaborate. In support of... Read More
Change Management – Tactic #4: Repetitiveness
The Hot Spotters, by Atul Gawande in the January 24, 2011 issue of The New Yorker spoke primarily to minimizing medical costs... Read More
Problems With Asking “Do You Understand?”
Posted on10 Mar 2011
Tagstraining, Techniques, reprimand, problem solving, management, intuition, Influence, employees, emotions, cognitive bias, cognition, assumptions, approaches, action
Comments2
Long ago I sat in on the reprimand of an employee by a manager. The manager concluded his discussion by asking the... Read More
Best Service or Best Price: Which Reigns Supreme?
Posted on04 Oct 2010
Tagscustomer service, Are You Being Served, article, assumptions, branding, business, buying habits, competition, customers, emotions, intuition, James Surowiecki, luxury, market, premium, price, product, quality, status, subjective, survey, The New Yorker
Comments0
In the article, “Are You Being Served?”, in the September 6, 2010 issue of The New Yorker, the author James Surowiecki cites... Read More
