I was reading the book The Truthful Art which is about data visualization. The author also cites some reference on how we humans behave and act. He points 3 things: 1. We love recognizing patterns. We don’t like much randomness. That is what powers bias like gambler’s fallacy. 2. We love storytelling. Once we have …
Author Archives: Atul
Broken Dreams
It is so easy to get mad at watchman for taking time in opening door. It is easy to get angry at the delivery boy for calling up few times for address confirmation. It is easy to get hyper at cook for adding extra salt by mistake. It takes an effort to know the story …
Sometimes
Sometimes due to anger people end up showing their weakness. The insecurity and ego flow with the conversation. In such situations, one cannot argue with reason. We should empathize with the angry person and investigate what could have been the cause for it. The anger and non-rational act should be forgiven. We humans …
Grumpy
What is the point of being grumpy? An ailing father is mad at his son because he could not join him for Thanksgiving. An employee is grumpy with his co-founder for working extra hours. An investor is unhappy with his portfolio for missing the quarter MAU. A customer is grumpy for poor vendor because he …
Paper: On product customization and customers willing to pay more
I was reading this behavioral economics paper [PDF] On product customization and customers willing. It cites how our bias plays its role (endowment effect, IKEA effect) and why credit card companies, E-commerce giants stress on personalized care and recommendation. Why we end up paying more for the customized coffee mug and feel worse if it …
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Assumption
An assumption can make us sick. It fosters our brain’s ability to switch things in our or against our favor. Love, hate, like, dislike all these are made up in our brain. Our bias, experience plays an equal role. The monkey mind will always have its fight mode open as are our assumptions. * My …
Worry
Marketers and other emerging professions are reaping profit from our worries. Do Yoga for a stress-free day. Avoid sugar or get diabetes. Eating meat causes heart disease. Gym every day to fight obesity. Eating tobacco causes cancer. These signals and messages receive more attention. Psychologists cite that worry trumps over sex in seeking our brain’s …
Transparency
Transparency seems to be the least regarded virtue in the startup ecosystem. Everyone stakeholder talks about its positive while forgetting to apply it. Founders will not tell the team about the real state of fundraising or money in the bank. An investor will never tell you he is not interested in you anymore. An employee …
Ask
Why are shy in asking, be it for advice or buying. Social scientists call it risk-averse tendency. The fear of losing hurts more than trying to gain. Asking from experts saves our time, no one is judging us. We make things look complicated. At the same time is it our ego or insecurity which plays …
Micromanage
The modern-day organization has gone bonkers, managers have become a surveillance machine. How does it matter what an employee wears and what time he comes and goes back from work? Why does he need to share his social media details or his affiliations to the management? I thought startups were about innovation and creativity. Nobody …