There is a HiPPO in the room. It is big, loud, ugly and everybody is doing what it wants. The HiPPO is the Highest Paid Persons Opinion. You can spot HiPPO’s quite easily, they are expressed forcefully, everybody nods and agrees with them and they are always the last thing said. A HiPPO is a […]
“Group Think” is no Laughing Matter
In the 1970’s the psychologist Irving Janis coined the term “group think” to explain why group pressure results in poor decisions, or, as he explained it, why groups show: A deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgement That is a little more erudite than the way I would put it, but the phrase […]
Regression to The Mean
Is the Stick Mightier Than the Carrot? Psychologists will tell you that carrots are a far more productive strategy than sticks. You might think this is a blindingly obvious statement, but the facts don’t always support it. Sometimes the psychologists are proven wrong, often by a case of “regression to the mean”. That is exactly […]
How to Avoid Looking Stupid
We have all done it, jumped to the wrong conclusion, acted on it and then looked stupid. We are genetically designed to do it. There is even an explanation for it. It is called the “ladder of inference”. Here is how you climb it: The ladder of inference Step 1: Take in the facts, the […]
The Question That Will Tame a Dragon
I sat on the train for a long time yesterday, bored out of my tiny mind, nothing to do. Idly I watched the steward push a refreshments trolley past. He stopped behind me and sold a lady a cup of coffee and a flapjack She asked for a receipt (I guess she could expense the […]
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