One of the most ‘interesting’ academic papers of recent times is Daryl Bem’s paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (a reputable journal) on psi. (Yes, psychic phenomenon, he was interested in testing psychic powers). He purported to show that people had the ability to ‘feel’ the future and so predict it better…
Category: Assumptions
Do Facts Matter To Persuasion?
One of the major debates in marketing is: Do Facts Matter To Persuasion? The good news is that it will never be finished. Sometimes they do, sometimes less so is probably the answer. Still, it generates debate. Understanding People Who Don’t Think Like Us I really wanted to like Scott Adams’ Win Bigly. What was…
Behaviourally Informed Government Policy
In a companion piece to the article published on the BEAR (Behavioural Economics In Action at Rotman) website Dilip Soman, Katie Chen, and myself have an article in the Spring issue of the Rotman Management magazine. This is an issue completely dedicated to behavioral insights. It has some major academic names in the field — Richard Thaler, George…
Star Wars, The US Constitution, And The Dangers Of Not Rewriting When Necessary
Cass Sunstein’s book — The World According to Star Wars — is a must for Star Wars fans who are also interested in behavioral economics/law/public policy. This is probably a surprisingly big intersection. What do we find out about Star Wars and the US constitution? Star Wars: Why? I must confess to not seeing the appeal of…
Improving Forecasting
Philip Tetlock’s book on expert political judgment was a classic. That said, he clearly thinks that the message taken from that book was too strong. Previously he suggested that experts just aren’t that good at forecasting. He still retains that theme in his new work — but now he is more interested in improving forecasting. Improving Forecasting…
How Managers Decide
My second delve into Richard Thaler’s Misbehaving concerns managerial decision making. How managers decide is a massively important topic. Equilibrium Conditions Don’t Describe Any Point In Time Economic models often study equilibrium conditions. These apply where no manager will want to change their decision. Given they model this some academics seem to think that this describes…
The Gauntlet Of Attacks On Behavioral Economics
Richard Thaler‘s Misbehaving may be one of my favorite academic books. The author packed the book with interesting thoughts, covers numerous important ideas, and even is amusingly candid about his colleagues. Over the coming months, I’ll occasionally cover his key points (see here and here). In this post I’ll discuss “the gauntlet”; a list of predictable…
Should We Get Rid Of Irrationality? Perhaps, What Is Irrationality?
Dan Ariely is a very enjoyable writer and an excellent researcher. That said I find his central theme of “irrationality” a problem. It is hard to know what people mean when they talk about irrationality. My central question is: What Is Irrationality? Advice To The Irrational In his advice book, Irrationally Yours, readers ask Ariely…
Crossing Chasms and Anecdotal Evidence
Geoffrey Moore‘s book, Crossing the Chasm, has been a hugely popular book in the marketing strategy area. I can see why. Moore has a clear thesis, the examples are interesting, and the topic important. Unfortunately Crossing the Chasm has a plausible story but no more. Crossing the chasm is just an anecdote, a good anecdote…
Decision-Making In The Real World
Phil Rosenzweig is a contrarian. You can tell he enjoys disagreeing with people. The Halo Effect was a great read that targeted strategy researchers. His new book , Left Brain, Right Stuff, is an attack on decision research. It focuses on decision-making in the real world. Positive Comments The book has many good points and…
