...ISU Critical Essay – Short Essay Option Our second mind is not as simple as it seems. Blink is a behavioral economics book written in 2005 by British-Canadian Journalist Malcolm Gladwell, focusing on our ability to ‘’Thin Slice’’. He explains through this ability we are able to determine what is truly important from a narrow experience, suggesting our spontaneous decisions are often better than the ones we consider. Using several engaging examples, he warns however that this ability of ours is challenged by personal likes, dislikes and overload of information, and is in our best interest to train our first impression to understand this reality through experience. The lack of scientific research in Blink also suggests that it is anecdotal, but Gladwell accepts this reality himself and thoroughly explains every point he makes in regards to this single flaw. Drawing scenarios that practice this rapid cognition from science, advertising, medicine and many others, he is also able to directly engage the reader’s subconscious by random screening and thought provocation. Malcolm Gladwell’s theory brings awareness to the power of our unconscious decision-making and proposes various strategies that offer a solution to its fallacy, maintaining his veracity in the research presented despite the lack of scientific method. Malcolm Gladwell’s theory brings awareness to the power of our unconscious decision-making. Decisions made quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously...
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...Malcolm Gladwell’s famous novel, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, opens up a new idea of how first impressions truly have a major impact within our minds. Gladwell is not only a well known best selling author, having all five of his books on New York times best selling list, but also a respectable journalist. Gladwell introduces his idea of “thin-slicing” through situations with both good and bad outcomes. “Thin-Slicing” is the idea that humans are able to make accurate judgments based on solely a “thin slice” of knowledge. Gladwell’s notion supports humans can make decisions with merely a blink of an eye and be accurate. These snap decisions are made unconsciously. Throughout his book, Gladwell shows that “thin-slicing” is the...
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...Outliers: The Story of Success Published in 2008, Outliers: The Story of Success is Malcolm Gladwell’s third consecutive best-selling nonfiction book, following Tipping Point (2000) and Blink (2005). While Tipping Point focuses on the individual’s ability to effect change in society, Outliers deals with the cultural and societal forces that give an individual a chance. Through a series of case studies, Gladwell insists that we have all too easily bought into the myth that successful people are self-made; instead, he says they “are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Gladwell defines an outlier as a person out of the ordinary “who doesn't fit into our normal understanding of achievement.” According to Gladwell, great men and women are made from having success with ability, opportunities to become successful with 10,000 of practice, IQ not being the only thing needed, and that everything comes down to generation, family history, and demographics of society. Gladwell is able to support them and give great examples on how things work out with a person’s life. “The Matthew Effect” examines opportunity as a function of timing. Canadian hockey players born closer to the magic birthday of January 1 reap advantages that compound over time. Computer programmers Bill Joy and Bill Gates, both born in the 1950s...
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...Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, written by Malcolm Gladwell is about first impressions and snap judgments. Gladwell has three main objectives in this book: “to convince you that “decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately,” “to learn when to listen to that powerful onboard computer and when to be wary of it,” and “to convince you that our snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled.” Gladwell starts off with the story of a kouros, an ancient Greek statue that was close to being purchased by the Getty Museum in California. After 14 months of in depth research to verify the authenticity of the statue, the Getty determined that it was authentic and went ahead with the purchase. That was until one...
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...Biases on these topics are always affecting the way we make a choice. For example, the impact of biases on decision making is analyzed and evaluated throughout the book Blink, written by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell explains to his readers that biases on gender or race are always affecting the way we act. He states that, ”if you have a strongly pro-white pattern of associations, for example, there is evidence that that will affect the way you behave in the presence of a black person” (Gladwell). Despite what we believe and the morals that we associate with ourselves, we are always acting in a racist and sexist manner. Gladwell’s theory that biases are controlling the way we act and think is extremely relevant because it contributes to the multitude of other pieces of evidence, in relation to the biases in life and how they affect everyone. Everyone is affected by these biases; even people with strong incentives to act and make decisions against them. For example in “Professors are Prejudiced, Too”, authors Dolly Chugh, Katherine L. Milkman and Modupe Akinola examine the biases that are seen within the classrooms of “trained” professors....
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...ABSTRACT by john T APPEARANCE and Politica Success It is common for people to mistake appearance for looks. Looks are what you were born with; appearance is how you manage and present those looks; however ordinary or extraordinary they may be. From that perspective, it really does not matter what you look like in terms of constructing and presenting a winning appearance. According to an article by Business Insider, success also relies on how one is perceived. Studies show that looks can play an important factor in career advancement. Researchers have found that physical traits like facial structure, hair color, and weight can all affect a person’s pay check. Men who are at least 6′ tall make an average salary of $5,525 more than their shorter, 5’5 counterparts, says Harvard University. Another study took a poll of fortune 500 companies CEOs and on average, male CEOs were three inches taller than the average man at just under 6′.For every three inches taller than average they are, women earn 5 to 8 percent more money than women of average height. Symmetry is a sign of perceived beauty and people who are attractive make a considerable amount more than everyone else. Rick Wilson of Rice University studied “Fiscal Attraction.” He found a correlation between good looks and success. He found that the better a person looks, the more other people trust them. One finding in particular showed that the more people smiled, they more they were seen as trustworthy over those who kept...
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...The Power of Packaging Alice Louw & Michelle Kimber The Customer Equity Company* In recent years packaging has developed well beyond its original function as merely a means of product protection and now plays a key marketing role in developing on shelf appeal, providing product information and establishing brand image and awareness. As packaging’s role in the marketing mix gains momentum, so research into this arena becomes increasingly important. Given the potential for packaging to successfully achieve marketing goals; does research into packaging truly reflects its value within the marketing mix? Do we fully understand the role that packaging plays in a marketing environment and how best to leverage this tool to influence consumers? If packaging is so important, what is the best way to measure its effectiveness? * The Customer Equity Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of TNS (UK) which has been set up to develop the marketing sciences and support brand equity and Commitment modelling worldwide. 1 What is packaging? The definitions of ‘packaging’ vary and range from being simple and functionallyfocused to more extensive, holistic interpretations. Packaging can be defined quite simply as an extrinsic element of the product (Olson and Jacoby (1972)) - an attribute that is related to the product but does not form part of the physical product itself. “Packaging is the container for a product – encompassing the physical appearance of the container and including...
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...TDWI BEST PRACTICES REPORT FIRST QUARTER 2007 PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS Extending the Value of Your Data Warehousing Investment By Wayne W. Eckerson Research Sponsors MicroStrategy, Inc. OutlookSoft Corporation SAS SPSS Sybase, Inc. Teradata, a division of NCR www.tdwi.org PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS Extending the Value of Your Data Warehousing Investment By Wayne W. Eckerson Table of Contents Research Methodology and Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 What Is Predictive Analytics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Business Value of Predictive Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Measuring Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 How Do You Deliver Predictive Analytics? . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Process of Predictive Modeling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1. Defining the Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2. Exploring the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3. Preparing the Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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...Outliers THE S T O R Y OF S U C C E S S MALCOLM G LAD W E L L # 1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point and Blink $27.99 $ 3 0 . 9 9 in C a n a d a Why d o s o m e p e o p l e succeed far more than others? T h e r e is a story that is usually told a b o u t extremely successful p e o p l e , a story that focuses o n intelligence a n d ambition. In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell a r g u e s that the true story o f s u c c e s s is very different, a n d that if we want to u n d e r s t a n d h o w s o m e p e o p l e thrive, we s h o u l d s p e n d m o r e time l o o k i n g around them — at s u c h things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth d a t e . T h e story o f s u c c e s s is m o r e c o m p l e x — a n d a lot m o r e interesting — than it initially a p p e a r s . Outliers e x p l a i n s w h a t the B e a t l e s a n d Bill G a t e s have in c o m m o n , the e x t r a o r d i n a r y s u c c e s s o f A s i a n s at m a t h , the h i d d e n a d v a n t a g e s o f star athletes, why all t o p N e w York lawyers have the s a m e r é s u m é , a n d the r e a s o n y o u ' v e never h e a r d o f the w o r l d ' s s m a r t e s t m a n — all in terms o f g e n eration, family, c u l t u r e , a n d c l a s s . It matters w h a t year y o u were b o r n if y o u want to b e a S i l i c o n Valley billionaire, G l a d w e l l a r g u e s , a n d it matters w h e r e y o u w e r e b o r n if y o u want to b e a s u c cessful p i l o t . T...
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...Instantly How to Connect Anyone with LEIL LOWNDES New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2009 by Leil Lowndes. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-154586-0 MHID: 0-07-154586-7 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-154585-3, MHID: 0-07-154585-9. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. Where such designations appear in this book, they have been printed with initial caps. McGraw-Hill eBooks are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training programs. To contact a representative please visit the Contact Us page at www.mhprofessional.com. TERMS OF USE This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw-Hill”) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act...
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...P A R T I Discovering Momentum 1 1 The Power of Momentum Where’s the Impetus? Momentum. Most businesses get it at some point: the impression that everything they undertake succeeds effortlessly, as if they’re being carried along by a tailwind that increases their efficiency and propels them on to exceptional growth.1 Some hold on to it. Most don’t. Slowly, imperceptibly, the tailwind turns around and the momentum disappears, without anyone quite realizing what has happened. The company is still growing, but not as strongly as before, not as efficiently. Everyone’s maxing out, but it seems like there’s molasses in the works. Sound familiar? Sooner or later, it hits you in the face. Imagine you are meeting up with a senior analyst whose opinion counts with some of your company’s biggest investors. You think you’re on safe ground—after all, your company is doing better than the competition. But the analyst is in full gimlet-eyed, illusion-killing mode. “That’s nothing to crow about,” she says. “Yeah, you’ve got reasonable growth, but it’s nothing exceptional. You’re a safe bet, nothing more. Okay, I might tell my mom to buy, but 3 The Momentum Effect then she’s happy with inflation plus one. The way we see it, you’re really grinding it out. We reckon the strain’s getting harder, too. There’s no impetus—no momentum.” Words like that can really take the gloss off a day. The next time you gather your team, you don’t congratulate them on beating their targets—you...
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...The Power of Eye Contact Your Secret for Success in Business, Love, and Life Michael Ellsberg For Jena May I gaze into your eyes forever . . . los ojos . . . mudas lenguas de amorios. ( . . . the eyes, silent tongues of love.) —MIGUEL DE CERVANTES, from Don Quijote1 Contents Cover Title Page Epigraph A Note to Readers Introduction Chapter One - What Bill Clinton Knows About Eye Contact Chapter Two - How to Become a Master of Eye Chapter Three - Eye Flirting, Part I Chapter Four - Eye Flirting, Part II Chapter Five - The Eyes Are the Windows to the Sale Chapter Six - How to Wow a Crowd with Eye Contact Chapter Seven - If Looks Could Kill Chapter Eight - Truth and Eyes Chapter Nine - Eye Love You Chapter Ten - Gazing at the Divine Chapter Eleven - Going Deeper Epilogue Ralph Waldo Emerson on Eyes and Eye Contact Notes Works Cited Interviewees Free Bonus Material for Readers Acknowledgments About the Author Advance Praise for The Power of Eye Contact Copyright About the Publisher A Note to Readers I welcome your comments, questions, critiques, feedback, corrections, stories, experiences, and anecdotes. Please write to me at michael@powerofeyecontact.com. I won’t answer everything personally, but I will read it all and will answer the most interesting questions and queries. I may also post your questions, stories, or anecdotes on the book’s blog, www.powerofeyecontact.com/blog. So when you write, let me know if you’re OK with that, and if so, how you’d...
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...This book has been optimized for viewing at a monitor setting of 1024 x 768 pixels. MADE TO STICK random house a new york MADE TO STICK Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die • • • C H I P H E AT H & D A N H E AT H Copyright © 2007 by Chip Heath and Dan Heath All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Random House and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heath, Chip. Made to stick : why some ideas survive and others die / Chip Heath & Dan Heath p. cm. Includes index. eISBN: 978-1-58836-596-5 1. Social psychology. 2. Contagion (Social psychology). 3. Context effects (Psychology). I. Heath, Dan. II. Title. HM1033.H43 2007 302'.13—dc22 2006046467 www.atrandom.com Designed by Stephanie Huntwork v1.0 To Dad, for driving an old tan Chevette while putting us through college. To Mom, for making us breakfast every day for eighteen years. Each. C O N T E N T S INTRODUCTION WHAT STICKS? 3 Kidney heist. Movie popcorn. Sticky = understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior. Halloween candy. Six principles: SUCCESs. The villain: Curse of Knowledge. It’s hard to be a tapper. Creativity starts with templates. CHAPTER 1 SIMPLE 25 Commander’s Intent. THE low-fare airline. Burying the lead and the inverted pyramid. It’s the...
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...THE B L A C K SWAN The HIGHLY I mpact IM of the PROBABLE Nassim Nicholas Taleb U.S.A. $26.95 Canada $34.95 is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpre dictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9 / 1 1 . For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. A BLACK SWAN Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate oppor tunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the "impossible." For years, Taleb has studied how we fool our selves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this reve latory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don't know. He offers...
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...In memory of Amos Tversky Contents Introduction Part I. Two Systems 1. The Characters of the Story 2. Attention and Effort 3. The Lazy Controller 4. The Associative Machine 5. Cognitive Ease 6. Norms, Surprises, and Causes 7. A Machine for Jumping to Conclusions 8. How Judgments Happen 9. Answering an Easier Question Part II. Heuristics and Biases 10. The Law of Small Numbers 11. Anchors 12. The Science of Availability 13. Availability, Emotion, and Risk 14. Tom W’s Specialty 15. Linda: Less is More 16. Causes Trump Statistics 17. Regression to the Mean 18. Taming Intuitive Predictions Part III. Overconfidence 19. The Illusion of Understanding 20. The Illusion of Validity 21. Intuitions Vs. Formulas 22. Expert Intuition: When Can We Trust It? 23. The Outside View 24. The Engine of Capitalism Part IV. Choices 25. Bernoulli’s Errors 26. Prospect Theory 27. The Endowment Effect 28. Bad Events 29. The Fourfold Pattern 30. Rare Events 31. Risk Policies 32. Keeping Score 33. Reversals 34. Frames and Reality Part V. Two Selves 35. Two Selves 36. Life as a Story 37. Experienced Well-Being 38. Thinking About Life Conclusions Appendix Uncertainty A: Judgment Under Appendix B: Choices, Values, and Frames Acknowledgments Notes Index Introduction Every author, I suppose, has in mind a setting in which readers of his or her work could benefit from having read it. Mine is the proverbial office watercooler, where opinions are shared and gossip is exchanged. I...
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