Emotional attachment can be costly. In fact, social scientists have actually measured how costly! People become too attached to stocks, to real estate, to automobiles, and of course, to ideas. We endow things we have with added value because of these attachments, and that makes us poor players in a [Keep reading]
“Hyperbolic discounting” is one of those terms that sounds more impressive than it is. People make weird – but oddly predictable – decisions when balancing today’s desires against tomorrow’s needs. As a concept, however, it’s quite powerful. There’s a pattern to your bad choices. Understand that pattern and you can [Keep reading]
Ever thought something was a bad idea — like walking down a dark street, or adding a feature to a product you thought no one would want — but did it anyway because everyone else around you seemed to think it was ok? Group process can be a wonderful thing. [Keep reading]
I’ve been fascinated lately by the inability of people to use the simple phrase: “I was wrong.” Being wrong is great! It’s a powerful life tool! Sure, it hurts for a moment or two, like ripping off a band-aid. But after that, it’s liberating. Letting go of an idea that [Keep reading]
Most of us have settled into our new stay-at-home lives, though I hope none of this ever really feels normal to us. Still, the business of business carries on, best as it can. So we must all try to do the same. I’ve spent the past couple of years contributing [Keep reading]
You’ve been “hearing” a lot of yelling lately on social media — about the president, about the virus, or if you’re lucky, about sports. You’ve probably read thousands of comments and wasted countless hours on some of these round-and-round-we-go discussions. Have you ever witnessed anyone change their mind? Not often. [Keep reading]
It’s the end of January — if that means your dry January ends today, I toast you for making it! But usually, the change to February makes you realize you have abandoned all the good intentions you had on New Year’s Day. January is usually a harsh reminder of how [Keep reading]
What’s a “nudge unit” and how might it help your company, your employes or yourself be better at whatever you do? The folks at PeopleScience.com asked me to look into that recently. It’s pretty fascinating. I’ve been writing about cognitive biases and other human behavior research for some time now [Keep reading]
Quick: Which British king had six wives? And now, who won the 2012 World Series? Not a sports fan? Then try this one: Who was the runner up in the 2012 Republican presidential primary race? There’s a good chance you remember the name Henry VIII from high school. I remember [Keep reading]
An English teacher may have taught you that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Your science teacher probably should have taught you that the English teacher was wrong — or at least using a bit too much poetic license. In truth, research shows that making concrete plans [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan