It’s been said that a Weatherman is the only job where you can often be wrong and still keep your job. How often is your local forecast far from what transpires? (or perspires)
Two people meet in the road.
“What a beautiful day!” exclaims the first, looking up.
“Oh, but I think it might rain,” laments the second, looking down at his phone.
And they go on their ways.
This short exchange highlights two vastly different mindsets of the characters. Continue reading “Behaviors drive Attitudes”
#fail #win #drive #persuasion #bias #japan #trains #smoking #unstoppable
A few jobs ago in a different company, I split my time between IT Support and IT Sales. It was my first job in IT. I felt lucky to be there.
In the Sales role, my sales manager was constantly looking over my shoulder.
I would compose an email to a client and he would revise it.
I would write up a specific piece of hardware and he would suggest something different.
Continue reading ““Drive” — 10 Things I learned from Daniel Pink”
In mathematics and statistics, Mean is one method to represent a data set with a single number. When we talk about “Average” we often refer to the “Mean.” The Mean is calculated by diving the sum of data points by that number of data points:
Add Data Points: 4 + 8 + 15 + 16 + 23 + 42 = 108 Sum of 108, Divided by 6 data points = 108/6 = Mean of 18
Mean is easiest to calculate with numbers and quantifiable data, such as your average (mean) nightly hours of sleep, or your mean cost of lunch. For example, the “Average Human” is either calculated from measurements, or it’s a general term people use without accuracy. Continue reading “Why you Fail after you Win”
#scarcity #identity #tribe #positivity #persuasion #sales #photography #illusion
#mindreading #bodylanguage #forgive
Mind reading, the art of knowing exactly what the other person is thinking.
It’s a dangerous sport, and one that we’re not very good at. It’s the source of many disagreements and misunderstandings. No matter, we all continue to try.
I’ve certainly tried to finish someone’s sentences and been completely wrong. Haven’t you cut in because you knew exactly what the other person was going to say? How did that work out for you? Not always very well, I would bet.
“I opened the door to see…”
“…She was in the house!?” Continue reading “Mind Reading isn’t Real. Here’s How to Do It.”
#photography #video #bodylanguage #siliconevalley #confirmationbias #justification #memory #cognitivedissonance
“Why do you hate so-and-so, so much?” And he had answered them, with his shameless impudence, “I’ll tell you. He has done me no harm. But I played him a dirty trick, and ever since I have hated him.”
–Dostoyevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”
The human brain is excellent at keeping itself free of blame. We have a self-image that we’re a good person, and we also do things that harm others. The cognitive dissonance this causes can be uncomfortable… until we rewrite our memories or justify our actions. Continue reading “10 Things You’ll Learn from “Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)” by Tavris & Aronson”
