The other day I posted an article about innovation on LinkedIn. I was surprised to find a comment from someone I worked with at Accenture over 15 years ago. To paraphrase, he said… No offence, but I remember at a meeting in London trying to demonstrate to you how (a specific software platform) could be a […]
One week after starting my speaking business a dozen years ago, I met with the owner of a speaker’s bureau in London to discuss representation. In the meeting he expressed serious interest. So much so that a few days later he called me about a potential gig. The call came to my mobile phone as […]
“Build it and they will come.” We hear that mantra a lot. But with innovation, it is often more like, “Solve a pain and they will come.” The ultimate success of the automated teller machine (ATM) is a great example of this. The other night I was having dinner with someone who in the mid-1970’s […]
Although I rarely write about politics, the current Presidential campaigns are giving us some interesting examples of psychological manipulation. For example, this morning’s newspaper’s headline was, “(Obama) says Clinton’s attacks paved way for her big night.” It is believed that Hillary’s negative campaign helped her win key states. Why does mudslinging work? Why do people […]
I wrote a blog entry entitled, “How to Lose a Sale By Charging Too Little.” In it I describe why charging too little reduces the perception of value. According to a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business study, there are biological reasons why price impacts perception. Subjects were given a number of wines for tasting […]
Back in the 1980’s, executives used to joke that you would never get fired for buying “Big Blue” (IBM) computers. It’s not that IBM was the best, but you knew they would not screw up. When I worked for Accenture (then Andersen Consulting), the Economist once called us “The McDonalds of the consulting industry. You […]
Once again we explore the power of language. This one was given to me by Michael Wiederman, Professor of Psychology at Columbia College. Imagine that you serve on the jury of an only-child custody case following a relatively messy divorce. The facts of the case are complicated by ambiguous economic, social, and emotional considerations. Therefore […]
In two previous blog entries, (#1 and #2), I discussed the psychology behind risk taking. In particular, I explored why people take risks to minimize losses, yet play it safe when it comes to increasing gains. In this blog entry, I discuss a number of implications of this mindset. Here are 10½ – potentially irrational […]
In an earlier blog entry, I discuss the power of language. I want to explore this a bit further today. Here’s my variation of the “Asian disease problem” mentioned in that earlier blog entry: Which would you prefer? OPTION 1: A guaranteed gain of $75,000? OPTION 2: An 80% chance of gaining $100,000 with a […]
Which magazine do you think men are more likely to buy: a men’s health magazine with the cover, “Lose Your Gut Fast” or a similar magazine with the cover, “Get Six Pack Abs”? One study showed that over 80% of men chose the first cover – “Lose Your Gut Fast.” Why? People are more interested […]
