Many political …err Facebook….arguments today boil down to warring anecdotes. Like this: “I don’t feel sorry for government workers who aren’t getting paid. Why don’t they have any savings? I know a Fed worker with a really expensive car. Maybe he shouldn’t have spent so much on that car!” A [Keep reading]
A friend tells you he only drinks coffee made in a French press. Then, you see someone order a French press at your favorite coffee shop. Next, you’re at Target and you see a display with ornate French Press gadgets for sale. And you conclude: “This French press thing is everywhere! [Keep reading]
When I first approached this topic, I was using instant replay video reviews from sporting events as a METAPHOR. Turns out, I was being far more literal than I realized. Even with slow-mo, zoomed in, frame-by-frame analysis, people can’t agree on what they see from yesterday’s Donald Trump – CNN [Keep reading]
Want your employees or consumers to finish something? Give them a decent head start. It sounds too simple to be true, but it is. People are more likely to complete a task if they are given a jump start at the beginning. This behavioral phenomenon is called “endowed progress.” We all [Keep reading]
End on a high note! Hit your last shot before leaving the basketball court. Make sure you say good-bye when you leave. And yes, all’s well that ends well. In my continuing series for PeopleScience.com on cognitive biases, I recently took on the Peak-End rule. It’s a simple concept that [Keep reading]
“Free” is a very powerful word. Just look at the lines on National Ice Cream day and you know that’s true. Companies use the word “free” all the time to get your attention. If you’ve the Red Tape Chronicles for a while, you know this is often a bad thing [Keep reading]
When you put your own blood, sweat, and tears into something, you value it more. You probably know that, but you probably don’t know this tendency has a name — the IKEA Effect — and it has many applications in the workplace and on America’s store shelves. I’ve mentioned this [Keep reading]
You arrive at a party at an unfamiliar home. As you ring the bell, you rehearse the next few moments — explaining who you know, why you’re there, where you’ll place the bottle of wine you’re holding. Then the door opens, the hellos begin, and suddenly, there’s a powerful [Keep reading]
When you were in math class as a child, teachers usually wanted more than the correct answer to a problem. They also wanted you to demonstrate, on paper, how you got the answer. They wanted you to “show your work.” Turns out, adults want that too. In fact, something kind of magical [Keep reading]
The Syrian refugee crisis had been raging for nearly five years, and millions displaced, when one photograph changed the entire global conversation. The lifeless body of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi, lying face down on a beach after drowning while attempting a dangerous escape to Europe on a flimsy raft, cut through [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan